 Attorneys for the DeKalb County defendants moved for summary judgment on the grounds of qualified immunity as state officials . On November 10 , 2006 , District Court Judge William Duffey rejected their summary judgment petition , holding that the law does not allow " a public official defendant to engage in calculated racial discrimination costumed in a racially neutral garb of administrative actions so it can masquerade as a qualified immunity defense " . On November 21 , 2006 , Duffey ruled that the case could go forward to a jury trial . Jones and his fellow defendants then appealed the denial of their summary judgement motion . On July 31 , 2009 , the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the District Court judge 's rejection of the Defendants ' motion for summary judgment on the grounds of qualified immunity . Judge Gerald Bard Tjoflat , writing for the court , stated in the ruling that " DeKalb County , Georgia [ had ] embarked on a wholesale plan to replace its white county managers with African Americans " and that Vernon Jones had " devised the plan and monitored its execution " . 
