Bush v. Vera
| Bush v. Vera | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Argued December 5, 1995 Decided June 13, 1996 |
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| Full case name | George W. Bush, Governor of Texas, et al., Appellants v. Vera, et al.; Lawson, et al. v. Vera |
| Citations | 517 U.S. 952 (more)
116 S. Ct. 1941; 135 L.Ed.2d 248
|
| Prior history | Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, sub nom. Vera v. Richards, 861 F. Supp. 1304 (1994) |
| Subsequent history | 980 F.Supp. 254 |
| Holding | |
| In its 1991 congressional redistricting scheme, Texas subordinated race-neutral, traditional districting considerations to racial factors. This subjected the racially discriminatory plan to strict scrutiny under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the districting plan was deemed not narrowly tailored to meet a compelling state interest. | |
| Court membership | |
| Case opinions | |
| Plurality | O'Connor, joined by Rehnquist, Kennedy |
| Concurrence | O'Connor |
| Concurrence | Kennedy |
| Concurrence | Thomas, joined by Scalia |
| Dissent | Stevens, joined by Ginsburg, Breyer |
| Dissent | Souter, joined by Ginsburg, Breyer |
| Laws applied | |
| U.S. Const. amend. XIV, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, 42 U.S.C. § 1973; Texas Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., 2nd C.S., Chap. 7 | |
Bush v. Vera, 517 U.S. 952 (1996), is a United States Supreme Court case concerning racial gerrymandering, where racial minority majority-electoral districts were created during Texas' 1990 redistricting to increase minority Congressional representation. The Supreme Court, in a plurality opinion, held that race was the predominant factor in the creation of the districts and that under a strict scrutiny standard the three districts were not narrowly tailored to further a compelling governmental interest.
As a result of the 1990 United States Census, Texas was entitled to three additional congressional districts. In a called session in 1991, the Texas Legislature decided to draw one new Hispanic-majority district in South Texas (District 28), one new African-American majority district in Dallas County (District 30), and one new Hispanic-majority district in the Houston area (District 29). In addition, the Legislature decided to reconfigure an existing minority-majority district in the Houston area (District 18) to increase its percentage of African-Americans. The Texas Legislature had developed a state-of-the-art computer system, RedApl, that allowed it to draw congressional districts using racial data at the census block level. Working closely with the Texas congressional delegation and various members of the Legislature who intended to run for Congress, the Texas Legislature took great care to draw three new districts and reconfigure districts that the chosen candidates could win.
The Justice Department precleared the plan under § 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and it was used in the 1992 election.
Plaintiffs Al Vera, Edward Blum, Polly Orcutt, Ken Powers, Barbara Thomas, and Ed Chen challenged 24 of the state's 30 congressional districts as racial gerrymanders. A three-judge panel of the federal district, consisting of United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Judge Edith H. Jones, United States District Judges Melinda Harmon and David Hittner, struck down three Districts (18, 29, and 30) but the decision was stayed pending appeal, so the plan continued in use for the 1994 general election.
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