hb```e``"@9~`h-a`9`[5Uk~b>Ls("l After the 1990 census, the North Carolina General Assembly was entitled to a 12th seat in the U.S. House of Representatives and redrew its congressional districts to account for the changes in population. [21], In a 5-4 decision the courts ruled in favor of Shaw (the petitioner), finding that it was, in fact, unlawful to gerrymander on the basis of race. contemporary political phenomena by authors working within their own The law of redistricting had to comply with this act in order for the minority group to have impact in the U.S. government. The difference between constitutional and unconstitutional gerrymanders has nothing to do with whether they are based on assumptions about the groups they affect, but whether their purpose is to enhance the power of the group in control of the districting process at the expense of any minority group, and thereby to strengthen the unequal distribution of electoral power. Of particular relevance, five of the Justices reasoned that members of the white majority could not plausibly argue that their influence over the political process had been unfairly canceled (opinion of WHITE, J., joined by REHNQUIST and STEVENS, J.J.), or that such had been the State's intent (STEWART, J., POWELL, J., concurring in judgment). At the time, North Carolinas voting-age population was 78% White, 20% Black, 1% Indigenous, and 1% Asian. (1986) (teacher layoffs), electoral districting calls for decisions that nearly always require some consideration of race for legitimate reasons where there is a racially mixed population. In his written opinion, Chief Justice John Marshall declared that "an act of the legislature repugnant to the Constitution is void." Baker v. Carr (1961) Established the "one-person, one-vote" principle that districts should be proportionately represented in Congress. 0000003285 00000 n 0000003990 00000 n Upon seeking approval, the U.S. Attorney General objected to the fact that North Carolina had only one majority-black district. The North Carolina General Assembly submitted the plan to the U.S. Attorney General for preclearance under the Voting Rights Act, but it was rejected by the US Department of Justice which was led by Attorney General Janet Reno. The First District was somewhat hook-shaped, beginning in the northeastern part of the state and tapering down with fingerlike extensions almost to the South Carolina border. endstream Ruth O. Shaw (appellee) was a white Democratic resident of the 12th district in North Carolina. Mullane v. Central Hanover Bank & Trust Co. Cleveland Board of Education v. Loudermill, Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health, Cumming v. Richmond County Board of Education, Sipuel v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma, Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County, Griffin v. County School Board of Prince Edward County, Green v. County School Board of New Kent County, United States v. Montgomery County Board of Education, Alexander v. Holmes County Board of Education, Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education. 0000001525 00000 n 77 0 obj xref endobj That duty, however, is not violated when the majority acts to facilitate the election of a member of a group that lacks such power because it remains underrepresented in the state legislature - whether that group is defined by political affiliation, by common economic interests, or by religious, ethnic, or racial characteristics. 92-357 Argued: April 20, 1993 Decided: June 28, 1993. . On March 26, 1962, the Supreme Court decided Baker v. Carr, finding that it had the power to review the redistricting of state legislative districts under the 14th Amendment. From there, Ruth O. Shaw sued this proposed plan with the argument that this 12th district was unconstitutional and violated the Fourteenth Amendment under the clause of equal protection. The Equal Protection Clause should only be used to protect those who have been discriminated against in the past, they wrote. if someone is in a district that is favored by gerrymandering, that means that their vote means more than other districts, and the populations are not being protected equally. v. Rodriguez, Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association, Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey. At some points the district was no wider than Interstate 85, prompting one state legislator to remark that if "you drove down the interstate with both car doors open, you'd kill most of the people in the district." Many of these cases are controversial or were decided 5-4. 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. [3] Through this process, political parties can draw the boundaries of districts to favor their party's candidate as they allow for extra seats to be won. As long as members of racial groups have the commonality of interest implicit in our ability to talk about concepts like <"minority voting strength," and "dilution of minority votes," cf.Thornburg v. Gingles(1986), and as long as racial bloc voting takes place, legislators will have to take race into account in order to avoid dilution of minority voting strength in the districting plans they adopt. Dist. In Reynold v. Sims, the phrase people, not trees of pastures, vote can be applied to Shaw, as people, not highways, vote. You will be asked to compare one of the required cases (for which no information will be provided) with a case that is presented to you on the exam. With a 7-1 decision the court ruled in favor of Carey, the respondent. This was a previous problem that discriminated against the minority voters however, the White residents thought it was hindering their voices racially. PS: Political Science and Politics We suggest making sure to create a study plan and set up your study space with a good environment. He detailed that the 12th district was ultimately drawn to benefit a minority group hence making the strict scrutiny applied to feel unreasonable. Under Shaw v. Reno, redistricting can be held to the same legal standard as laws that explicitly classify by race. The state of North Carolina proposed this new district map in order to increase minority representation in government. H|m0( 85 0 obj [20] Then, the residents argued that the state had gone far this time by redrawing the district lines and creating a second district that was dominated by the minorities. society for individuals engaged in the study of politics and government. %%EOF [2], The difference between constitutional and unconstitutional gerrymanders has nothing to do with whether they are based on assumptions about the groups they affect, but whether their purpose is to enhance the power of the group in control of the districting process at the expense of any minority group, and thereby to strengthen the unequal distribution of electoral power. - Shaw, 509 U.S. at 678[23], While Shaw intended to construct limitations on using race to gerrymander districts, it fell short to live up to those expectations. endobj [29] Likewise, Miller v. Johnson is another case that was influenced by Shaw. This same issue was decided in United Jewish Organization of Williamsburgh, Inc. v. Carey, 430 U.S. 144 (1977) with an opposite result, and the Court should not sidestep that case. The Equal Protection Clause is only violated when a law seeks to hurt a minority group in voting. . City of Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Center, Inc. Florida Prepaid Postsecondary Education Expense Board v. College Savings Bank, Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama v. Garrett, Nevada Department of Human Resources v. Hibbs, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Shaw_v._Reno&oldid=1149587738, United States Supreme Court cases of the Rehnquist Court, United States electoral redistricting case law, Congressional districts of North Carolina, African-American history of North Carolina, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. Racial classifications with respect to voting carry particular dangers. In contrast, Reno, the Attorney General, argued that the district would allow for minority groups to have a voice in elections. endobj of the profession. endobj record for APSA, issues also include Association News, governance The courts also noted that based on the Voting Rights Act, race can be taken into account when redistricting plans are made, but it cannot be the sole factor when drawing a new district because that would violate the fourteenth amendment. 72 0 obj Dissents from Justices Blackmun and Stevens echoed Justice White. At issue is whether the plan systematically dilutes the voting strength of Democratic voters statewide. 0000007232 00000 n In 1993, about 20% of the state population identified as Black. The US Department of Justice, led by Attorney General Janet Reno , rejected North Carolina's district plan, instructing the state assembly to add another majority-minority district in . Decided in 1962, the ruling established the standard of "one person, one vote" and opened the door for the Court to rule on districting cases. JUSTICE O'CONNOR DELIVERED THE OPINION OF THE COURT. startxref Grofman adds that he does not believe Shaw to be a game-changer, but he does emphasize that while their consequences might not be as far-reaching, its succeeding cases are. An understanding of the nature of appellants' claim is critical to our resolution of the case. This case involves two of the most complex and sensitive issues this Court has faced in recent years: the meaning of the constitutional "right" to vote, and the propriety of race-based state legislation designed to benefit members of historically disadvantaged racial minority groups. Appellants allege that the revised plan, which contains district boundary lines of dramatically irregular shape, constitutes an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. Our voting rights precedents support that conclusion. [W]e believe that reapportionment is one area in which appearances do matter. It is, therefore, unclear how to prove when a shape is bizarre enough to constitute a clear racial motive, making it hard for courts to decide on rulings. In it, she writes that the court found that the shape of North Carolina's 12th district was so bizarre that the only reasonable explanation was that it had been drawn on the basis of race. 0000003021 00000 n 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. Baker v. Carr (1962) "The complaint's allegations of a denial of equal protection present a justiciable constitutional cause of action upon which appellants are entitled to a trial and a decision. trailer endobj <>stream Nonetheless, the notion that North Carolina's plan, under which whites remain a voting majority in a disproportionate number of congressional districts, and pursuant to which the State has sent its first black representatives since Reconstruction to the United States Congress, might have violated appellants' constitutional rights is both a fiction and a departure from settled equal protection principles. 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. District 12, shown here in pink, was an oddly-shaped district that followed a highway. HAn1E9 1J3 rri3H M>UGw!A"mjfBWg@"Xj j5.%{KB`rW!y Spitzer, Elianna. occupational endeavors. 0000001076 00000 n Justice Souter noted that the Court seemed to be suddenly applying strict scrutiny to a law that aimed to increase representation amongst a historically discriminated group. Direct link to Declan Wilcoxon's post if someone is in a distri, Posted 2 days ago. Box v. Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, Inc. Monell v. Department of Social Services of the City of New York, Will v. Michigan Department of State Police, Inyo County v. Paiute-Shoshone Indians of the Bishop Community, Fitzgerald v. Barnstable School Committee. 0000006041 00000 n Despite this, voter rights are being controlled by district shapes in the redistricting process. In 1982, the Voting Rights Act was amended to target the decrease in a specific minority's ability to ever gain a voting majority. R`W_2}aR?)Z~[J&]TB5{j({^M[%&(R^#HOa of Ed. North Carolina's initial reapportionment effort included one district purposefully constructed to have a majority of black voters. Shaw v. Reno places a lot of importance on the actual lines drawn, rather than who they contain. Some southern states filed against majority-Black districts. The Court offers no adequate justification for treating the narrow category of bizarrely shaped district claims differently from other districting claims. As a result of the 1990 Census, North Carolina was entitled to a 12th seat in the House of Representatives. It included all or portions of twenty-eight counties. %PDF-1.7 % Though traditional party conventions were ________, contemporary party conventions are ________.

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