GEORGE W. BUSH, GOVERNOR OF TEXAS, ET AL., APPELLANTS 94-805 v. AL VERA ET AL. WILLIAM LAWSON, ET AL., APPELLANTS 94-806 v. AL VERA ET AL. UNITED STATES, APPELLANT 94-988 v. AL VERA ET AL.
No. 94-805.
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
517 U.S. 952; 116 S. Ct. 1941; 135 L. Ed. 2d 248; 1996 U.S. LEXIS 3882; 64 U.S.L.W. 4452; 96 Cal. Daily Op. Service 4238; 96 Daily Journal DAR 6810; 9 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S 707
December 5, 1995, Argued
June 13, 1996 * , Decided
* Together with No. 94-806, Lawson et al. v. Vera et al., and No. 94-988, United States v. Vera et al., also on appeal from the same court.
Because the 1990 census revealed a population increase entitling Texas to three additional congressional seats, and in an attempt to comply with the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA), the Texas Legislature promulgated a redistricting plan that, among other things, created District 30 as a new majority African American district in Dallas County and District 29 as a new majority Hispanic district in Harris County, and reconfigured District 18, which is adjacent to District 29, as a majority African American district. After the Department of Justice precleared the plan under VRA §5, the plaintiffs, six Texas voters, filed this challenge alleging that 24 of the State's 30 congressional districts constitute racial gerrymanders in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. The three judge District Court held Districts 18, 29, and 30 unconstitutional. The Governor of Texas, private intervenors, and the United States (as intervenor) appeal.
Held: The judgment is affirmed.