If a cognizable harm like dilution or the abridgment of the right to participate in the electoral process is shown, the districting plan violates the Fourteenth Amendment. The plaintiffs alleged that the plan was drawn with the intent to segregate voters on the basis of race, in violation of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. The Attorney General objected to the plan on the ground that a second district could have been created to give effect to minority voting strength in the State's south-central to southeastern region. It is true, of course, that one's vote may be more or less effective depending on the interests of the other individuals who are in one's district, and our cases recognize the reality that members of the same race often have shared interests. Id., at 313. Section 2 also provides that a violation of that prohibition "is established if, based on the totality of circumstances, it is shown that the political processes leading to nomination or election are not equally open to participation by members of a [protected] class in that its members have less opportunity than other members of the electorate to participate in the political process and to elect representatives of their choice." "The right to vote freely for the candidate of one's choice is of the essence of a democratic society . " Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U. S., at 555. At one point the district remains contiguous only because it intersects at a single point with two other districts before crossing over them. Ante, at 653; see also ante, at 658.8, Nonetheless, in those cases where this cause of action is sufficiently pleaded, the State will have to justify its decision to consider race as being required by a compelling state interest, and its use of race as narrowly tailored to that interest. Put differently, we believe that reapportionment is one area in which appearances do matter. For much of our Nation's history, that right sadly has been denied to many because of race. Where it exists, most often the result is that neither white nor black can be elected from a district in which his race is in the minority." 2. 9 As has been remarked, "[d]ragons, bacon strips, dumbbells and other strained shapes are not always reliable signs that partisan (or racial or ethnic or factional) interests are being served, while the most regularly drawn district may turn out to have been skillfully constructed with an intent to aid one party." by Donald B. Verrilli, Jr., Scott A. Sinder, Kevin X. Crowley, and James A. Peters. In the 1870's, for example, opponents of Reconstruction in Mississippi "concentrated the bulk of the black population in a 'shoestring' Congressional district running the length of the Mississippi River, leaving five others with white majorities." But as JUSTICE WHITE points out, see ante, at 672 (dissenting opinion), and as the Court acknowledges, see ante, at 647, we have held that such principles are not constitutionally required, with the consequence that their absence cannot justify the distinct constitutional regime put in place by the Court today. There is no support for this distinction in UJO, and no authority in the cases relied on by the Court either. The question before us is whether appellants have stated a cognizable claim. Wright illustrates the difficulty of determining from the face of a single-member districting plan that it purposefully distinguishes between voters on the basis of race. The facts of this case mirror those presented in United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburgh, Inc. v. Carey, 430 U. S. 144 (1977) (UJO), where the Court rejected a claim that creation of a majority-minority district violated the Constitution, either as a per se matter or in light of the circumstances leading to the creation of such a district. See supra, at 680-681. gered at least heightened scrutiny (which every Member of the Court to address the issue has agreed must be applied even to race-based classifications designed to serve some permissible state interest).5 Presumably because the legitimate consideration of race in a districting decision is usually inevitable under the Voting Rights Act when communities are racially mixed, however, and because, without more, it does not result in diminished political effectiveness for anyone, we have not taken the approach of applying the usual standard of such heightened "scrutiny" to race-based districting decisions. districts in order to comply with the Voting Rights Act. Pp. 3:92CV71-P (WDNC)). First, they suggest that a racial gerrymander of the sort alleged here is functionally equivalent to gerrymanders for nonracial purposes, such as political gerrymanders. The Attorney General, acting through the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division, interposed a formal objection to the General Assembly's plan. See Gomillion v. Lightfoot, 364 U. S. 339. JUSTICE SOUTER apparently believes that racial gerrymandering is harmless unless it dilutes a racial group's voting strength. As for this latter category, we. The State has made no mystery of its intent, which was to respond to the Attorney General's objections, see Brief for State Appellees 13-14, by improving the minority group's prospects of electing a candidate of its choice. On the brief were Acting Solicitor General Bryson, Acting Assistant Attorney General Turner, Thomas G. Hungar, and Jessica Dunsay Silver. Justia Annotations is a forum for attorneys to summarize, comment on, and analyze case law published on our site. The case established that any legislative redistricting must be strictly scrutinized and that any laws related to racially motivated redistricting must be held to narrow standards and . The majority, however, accepted the District Court's finding that the plaintiffs had failed to establish that the districts were in fact drawn on racial lines. A new issue of common stock: The flotation costs of the new common stock would be 8% of the amount raised. At what time (or times) during the 24-hour period does the maximum body temperature occur? As we have held, one's constitutional rights are not violated merely because the candidate one supports loses the election or because a group (including a racial group) to which one belongs winds up with a representative from outside that group. This is altogether antithetical to our system of representative democracy. The Court today chooses not to overrule, but rather to sidestep,UJO. 7. UJO, supra, at 150. Gomillion is consistent with this view. To allow judicial interference whenever this occurs would be to invite constant and unmanageable intrusion. It reinforces the perception that members of the same racial group--regardless of their age, education, economic status, or the community in which the live--think alike, share the same political interests, and will prefer the same candidates at the polls. We note, however, that only three Justices in UJO were prepared to say that States have a significant interest in minimizing the consequences of racial bloc voting apart from the requirements of the Voting Rights Act. What trade-offs are involved in deciding to have a single large, centrally located facility instead of 2. Bandemer, 478 U. S., at 164 (Powell, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part) (internal quotation marks omitted). Court's determination to depart from our prior decisions by carving out this narrow group of cases for strict scrutiny in place of the review customarily applied in cases dealing with discrimination in electoral districting on the basis of race. The only justification I can imagine would be the preservation of "sound districting principles," such as compactness and contiguity. Id., at 180 (Stewart, J., joined by Powell, J., concurring in judgment). I believe that the Equal Protection Clause is violated when the State creates the kind of uncouth district boundaries seen inKarcher v. Daggett(1983),Gomillion v. Lightfoot)(1960), and this case, for the sole purpose of making it more difficult for members of a minority group to win an election. If, on remand, the allegations of a racial gerrymander are not contradicted, the District Court must determine whether the plan is narrowly tailored to further a compelling governmental interest. In other words, the purposeful creation of a majority-minority district could have discriminatory effect if it is achieved by means of "packing"-i. e., overconcentration of minority voters. It is evident to me, however, that what North Carolina did was precisely tailored to meet the objection of the Attorney General to its prior plan. There is thus no theoretical inconsistency in having two distinct approaches to equal protection analysis, one for cases of electoral districting and one for most other types of state governmental decisions. 430 U. S., at 165. Id., at 154-155. It applied a three-part test, examining intent, effects, and causation. Ibid. UJO's framework simply does not apply where, as here, a reapportionment plan is alleged to be so irrational on its face that it immediately offends principles of racial equality. In whatever district, the individual voter has a right to vote in each election, and the election will result in the voter's representation. Indeed, the Voting Rights Act and our case law make clear that a reapportionment plan that satisfies 5 still may be enjoined as unconstitutional. The General Assembly located the second district not in the south-central to southeastern part of the State, but in the north-central region along Interstate 85. Get Shaw v. Reno, 509 U.S. 630 (1993), United States Supreme Court, case facts, key issues, and holdings and reasonings online today. Wygant v. Jackson Bd. Lane v. Wilson, 307 U. S. 268; Gomillion v. Lightfoot, 364 U. S. Redistricting plans also reflect group interests and inevitably are conceived with partisan aims in mind. Traditional civil rights groups--the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund--submitted amicus curiae briefs in favor of the minority districts, and groups with long histories of opposition to quota programs--Washington Legal Foundation and the American Jewish Congress--argued against them. 10 This appears to be what has occurred in this instance. As was the case in New York, a number of North Carolina's political subdivisions have interfered with black citizens' meaningful exercise of the franchise and are therefore subject to 4 and 5 of the Voting Rights Act. See ante, at 666-667, and n. 6 (dissenting opinion). 642-649. Equal Protection Clause. Const., Arndt. How do you think the civil rights movement and federal laws led to changes in American society and politics? Nothing in the decision precludes white voters (or voters of any other race) from bringing the analytically distinct claim that a reapportionment plan rationally cannot be understood as anything other than an effort to segregate citizens into separate voting districts on the basis of race without sufficient justification." We also do not decide. Where members of a racial minority group vote as a cohesive unit, practices such as multimember or atlarge electoral systems can reduce or nullify minority voters' ability, as a group, "to elect the candidate of their choice." See post, at 684 (dissenting opinion). As the Court noted, the "inevitable effect of this redefinition of Tuskegee's boundaries" was "to deprive the Negro petitioners discriminatorily of the benefits of residence in Tuskegee." ority as to their status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely ever to be undone." of Gal. The Attorney General objected to the plan on the ground that the second district could have been created to give effect to minority voting strength in the State's south-central to southeastern region. The majority found no support for appellants' contentions that race-based districting is prohibited by Article I, 4, or Article I, 2, of the Constitution, or by the Privileges and Immunities Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The difficulty of proof, of course, does not mean that a racial gerrymander, once established, should receive less scrutiny under the Equal Protection Clause than other state legislation classifying citizens by race. "Dilution" thus refers to the effects of districting decisions not on an individual's political power viewed in isolation, but on the political power of a group. The Court expresses no view on whether appellants successfully could have challenged a district such as that suggested by the Attorney General or whether their complaint stated a claim under other constitutional provisions. And, finally, if the answer to the second question is generally "No," should it be different when the favored group is defined by race? The other part of the majority's explanation of its holding is related to its simultaneous discomfort and fascination with irregularly shaped districts. In districting, by contrast, the mere placement of an individual in one district instead of another denies no one a right or benefit provided to others. See 425 U. S., at 142, n. 14. Such approval would be forthcoming only if the plan did not jeopardize minority representation. The consideration of race in "segregation" cases is no different than in other race-conscious districting; from the standpoint of the affected groups, moreover, the line-drawings all act in similar fashion.8 A plan that "segregates" being functionally indistinguishable from any of the other varieties of gerrymandering, we should be consistent in what we require from a claimant: proof of discriminatory purpose and effect. The existence of bizarre and uncouth district boundaries is powerful evidence of an ulterior purpose behind the shaping of those boundaries-usually a purpose to advantage the political party in control of the districting process. Racial gerrymandering, even for remedial purposes, may balkanize us into competing racial factions; it threatens to carry us further from the goal of a political system in which race no longer matters--a goal that the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments embody, and to which the Nation continues to aspire. See 808 F. 430 U. S., at 162-163 (opinion of WHITE, J., joined by Brennan, BLACKMUN, and STEVENS, JJ.) Race in redistricting is permissible as long as configurations are not too extreme. Journalize the entry to record the identification of the customers bad debt. Today, the Court recognizes a new cause of action under which a State's electoral redistricting plan that includes a configuration "so bizarre" that it "rationally cannot be understood as anything other than an effort to separate voters into different districts on the basis of race [without] sufficient justification" will be subjected to strict scrutiny. Disregard for geographic divisions and compactness often goes hand in hand with partisan gerrymandering. But it soon became apparent that guaranteeing equal access to the polls would not suffice to root out other racially discriminatory voting practices. for a remand at all, even accepting the majority's basic approach to this case. As a result of the 1990 census, North Carolina became entitled to a 12th seat in the United States House of Representatives. Appellee Reno . c. Answer the questions in part (b) for the minimum body temperature during the 24-hour period. ); id., at 518 (KENNEDY, J., concurring in part and concurring in judgment); Wygant, 476 U. S., at 280282 (plurality opinion); id., at 286 (O'CONNOR, J., concurring in part and concurring in judgment). 2. 86.3% of the population in the 18th District was classified as nonwhite or Puerto Rican. Accord, Loving v. Virginia, 388 U. S. 1, 11 (1967). Finally, like New York, North Carolina reacted by modifying its plan and creating additional majority-minority districts. Although the boundary lines were somewhat irregular, the majority reasoned, they were not so bizarre as to permit of no other conclusion. The VRA required an increase in the representation of minority groups. Appellants contend that redistricting legislation that is so bizarre on its face that it is "unexplainable on grounds other than race," Arlington Heights, supra, at 266, demands the same close scrutiny that we give other state laws that classify citizens by race. The district remains contiguous only because it intersects at a single large, centrally facility! Became entitled to a 12th seat in the cases relied on by Court... 'S basic approach to this case distinction in UJO, and James A. Peters examining intent,,. Racially discriminatory voting practices its simultaneous discomfort and fascination with irregularly shaped districts there is no support this! Of `` sound districting principles, '' such as compactness and contiguity justification I can imagine be! And analyze case law published on our site long as configurations are not too extreme its holding is related its! The identification of the new common stock: the flotation costs of the majority 's explanation of its is! 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