''Miller v. Johnson'', 515 U.S. 900 (1995), was a
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
case concerning "affirmative
gerrymandering
In representative democracies, gerrymandering (, originally ) is the political manipulation of electoral district boundaries with the intent to create undue advantage for a party, group, or socioeconomic class within the constituency. The m ...
/racial gerrymandering", where racial minority-majority electoral districts are created during
redistricting
Redistribution (re-districting in the United States and in the Philippines) is the process by which electoral districts are added, removed, or otherwise changed. Redistribution is a form of boundary delimitation that changes electoral distri ...
to increase minority
Congressional representation.
Background
Only one of Georgia's ten congressional districts was primarily African American between 1980 and 1990. According to the 1990 Census, Georgia's increase in population entitled the state to an eleventh congressional seat. That prompted Georgia's General Assembly to re-draw the state's
congressional districts
Congressional districts, also known as electoral districts and legislative districts, electorates, or wards in other nations, are divisions of a larger administrative region that represent the population of a region in the larger congressional bod ...
. After the
Justice Department
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
denied several of the Assembly's proposed new districts, as the state's population was 27% African-American, but formed a majority in only one of the now 11 districts, the Assembly drew the 11th district to create a second majority-black district. However the district lacked any sort of organic structure, and was deemed a "geographic monstrosity" because it extended approximately 260 square miles from Atlanta to the Atlantic Ocean. The case was brought to court by white voters in
the Eleventh Congressional District of the
state
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
of
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
.
Question before the Supreme Court
Is racial gerrymandering of the congressional redistricting process a violation of the
Equal Protection Clause
The Equal Protection Clause is part of the first section of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The clause, which took effect in 1868, provides "''nor shall any State ... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal ...
?
Decision of the Court
Justice Kennedy
Anthony McLeod Kennedy (born July 23, 1936) is an American lawyer and jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1988 until his retirem ...
wrote the majority opinion for the Court. Ruling against the district, the Court declared the district
unconstitutional
Constitutionality is said to be the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution; "Webster On Line" the status of a law, a procedure, or an act's accordance with the laws or set forth in the applicable constitution. When l ...
under the
Equal Protection Clause
The Equal Protection Clause is part of the first section of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The clause, which took effect in 1868, provides "''nor shall any State ... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal ...
of the
Fourteenth Amendment, according to the interpretation in ''
Shaw v. Reno'' (1993). The court noted that in some instances, "a reapportionment plan may be so highly irregular and bizarre in shape that it rationally cannot be understood as anything other than an effort to segregate voters based on race." Citing ''
Shaw v. Reno,'' the majority concluded that strict scrutiny is required whenever race is the "overriding, predominant force" in the redistricting process. Justice
Sandra Day O'Connor
Sandra Day O'Connor (born March 26, 1930) is an American retired attorney and politician who served as the first female associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1981 to 2006. She was both the first woman nominated and th ...
wrote a concurrence, while Justice
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Joan Ruth Bader Ginsburg ( ; ; March 15, 1933September 18, 2020) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1993 until her death in 2020. She was nominated by Presiden ...
wrote a dissent joined by Justices
John Paul Stevens
John Paul Stevens (April 20, 1920 – July 16, 2019) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1975 to 2010. At the time of his retirement, he was the second-oldes ...
,
Stephen G. Breyer
Stephen Gerald Breyer ( ; born August 15, 1938) is a retired American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1994 until his retirement in 2022. He was nominated by President Bill Clinton, and rep ...
, and
David H. Souter. Stevens wrote an additional, separate dissent joined by no other justice.
See also
* ''
Wesberry v. Sanders'', : Earlier Georgia congressional redistricting case
* ''
Wright v. Rockefeller'',
* ''
Shaw v. Reno'',
* ''
Bush v. Vera'',
* ''
Hunt v. Cromartie'',
* ''
Easley v. Cromartie'',
* ''
Georgia v. Ashcroft'', : Georgia State Senate redistricting case
* ''
League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry
''League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry'', 548 U.S. 399 (2006), is a Supreme Court of the United States case in which the Court ruled that only District 23 of the 2003 Texas redistricting violated the Voting Rights Act. The Court refuse ...
,''
* ''
Alabama Legislative Black Caucus v. Alabama,''
*
List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 515
This is a list of all United States Supreme Court cases from volume 515 of the ''United States Reports
The ''United States Reports'' () are the official record ( law reports) of the Supreme Court of the United States. They include rulings, ord ...
*
Briffault, Richardbr>
"Race and Representation after ''Miller v. Johnson''"''University of Chicago Legal Forum'', vol. 1995, issue 1, article 3
References
External links
*
Further reading
*
*
*
United States equal protection case law
United States Supreme Court cases
United States electoral redistricting case law
1995 in United States case law
American Civil Liberties Union litigation
Gerrymandering in the United States
Congressional districts of Georgia (U.S. state)
United States Supreme Court cases of the Rehnquist Court
{{SCOTUS-stub