Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/451/1002/
Timestamp: 2019-04-21 10:35:16+00:00

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Justia › US Law › US Case Law › US Supreme Court › Volume 451 › UVALDE CONSOLIDATED INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DIST. v. U.S.
"as a result of the school district's election system, Mexican- Americans have less opportunity than 'whites' to participate in the political process and to elect candidates of their choice to the Board." Id., at 549 (footnote omitted).
The United States District Court for the Western District of Texas dismissed the suit for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. 461 F.Supp. 117 (1978). It concluded that the Fifteenth Amendment, upon which 2 of the Act rests,3 applies only to practices which directly affect access to the ballot and is thus not available to challenge at-large election districts on the basis of so-called "vote dilution."
satisfied. 446 U.S., at 65. In contrast to the Fourteenth Amendment, there is nothing in the Fifteenth Amendment which prohibits at-large election districts. See Beer v. United States, 425 U.S. 130, 142, n.14, 1364, n.14 (1976) ( observing that "[t]here is no decision in this Court holding a legislative apportionment or reapportionment violative of the Fifteenth Amendment"). Because the Attorney General does not allege in this case that Mexican- Americans have been prohibited or discouraged from voting, I do not believe that the Attorney General has stated a cause of action under the Fifteenth Amendment and, consequently, 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
With respect to the 1975 amendment, I do not view that amendment as changing the substantive law of 2. The purpose of the change was to extend 2 protections to a new group of persons, namely, members of language minorities such as Mexican-American. See S.Rep.No. 94-295, p. 24 ( 1975), U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News 1975, p. 774 (the amendment was made to " broaden [the Act's] special coverage to new geographic areas . . ."). Congress based the addition to 2 on its power to enforce the guarantees of the Fourteenth Amendment in order to ensure the constitutionality of the change, not to allow language minorities to challenge at-large voting districts on grounds of vote dilution. The legislative history reveals that Congress was concerned about the possibility that certain language minority groups might not be considered members of a "race or color" group protected under the Fifteenth Amendment. Thus, Congress based the 1975 " expansion amendment" on both the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments in order to "doubly insure the constitutional basis for the Act." Id., at 47- 48. In sum, the Court of Appeals quite clearly erred in concluding that the 1975 amendment to 2 incorporates the Fourteenth Amendment's prohibition of purposeful vote dilution. Even as amended, 2 simply does not permit the Attorney General to bring suits challenging at-large electoral systems.
"That approach, however, is inconsistent with our decisions in Washington v. Davis, supra [426 U.S. 229 (1976)], and Arlington Heights [v. Metropolitan Housing Corp., 429 U.S. 252 (1977)]. Although the presence of the indicia relied on in Zimmer may afford some evidence of a discriminatory purpose, satisfaction of those criteria is not of itself sufficient proof of such a purpose. The so-called Zimmer criteria upon which the District Court and the Court of Appeals relied were most assuredly insufficient to prove an unconstitutionally discriminatory purpose in the present case." 446 U.S., at 73.
Yet if one reads the specific allegations of the complaint heretofore set forth, they bear a striking resemblance to the so-called Zimmer criteria. If, as is alleged, approximately 50% of the population of the School District is Mexican-American, one wonders why an at-large system should result in no Mexican-American being elected. Indeed, the fact that two Mexican-Americans have recently been elected under the at-large system belies the Attorney General's allegations. In Bolden, we rejected emphatically the theory that every "political group" or at least every such group that is in the minority, has a federal constitutional right to elect candidates in proportion to its numbers. 446 U.S., at 75. A court-imposed requirement that a specified number of Mexican- American seats be guaranteed by virtue of the approximately 50% Mexican- American population would, in my view, be clearly unwarranted.
Finally, it is important to remember that this is the beginning of a decennium which will involve a good deal of reapportionment. That task will fall primarily to legislators. "The Court has repeatedly held that redistricting and reapportioning legislative bodies is a legislative task which the federal courts should make every effort not to pre-empt. Connor v. Finch, 431 U.S. 407, 414-415, 1833-1834 ( 1977); Chapman v. Meier, 420 U.S. 1, 27, 766 (1975); Gaffney v. Cummings, 412 U.S. 735, 749, 2329 (1973); Burns v. Richardson, 384 U.S. 73, 84-85, 1292-1293 (1966)." Wise v. Lipscomb, 437 U.S. 535, 539-540, 2497 (1978). In Minnesota State Senate v. Beens, 406 U.S. 187, 200, 1485-1486 ( 1972), we concluded that "the action of the three-judge court in so drastically changing the number of legislative districts and the size of the respective houses of the Minnesota Legislature is not required by the Federal Constitution and is not justified as an exercise of federal judicial power." Accordingly, those legislators who embark on the difficult and politically sensitive task of reapportionment will need clear rules for determining whether a particular plan for a particular governmental district is or is not constitutional.
clarify what the Voting Rights Act and the Federal Constitution require.
For the foregoing reasons, I dissent from the denial of the petition for certiorari.
"No voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure shall be imposed or implied by any State or political subdivision to deny or abridge the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color, or in contravention of the guarantees set forth in 4(f)(2) [42 U.S.C. 1973b(f)(2)]." 89 Stat. 402.
The guarantees of 1973b(f)(2) assure against any denial or abridgment of the right to vote because the voter is a member of a language minority group. Congress enacted this amendment to 2 pursuant to its power to enforce the guarantees of both the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. 42 U.S.C. 1973b(f)(1).
Footnote 2 As the court below noted, the United States now stipulates that two Mexican-Americans have recently been elected. 625 F.2d 547, 549, n.2 ( CA5 1980).
Footnote 3 The Fifteenth Amendment provides: "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude."
Footnote 4 The Court of Appeals also concluded that a school board is a " political subdivision" within the meaning of 2. In Dougherty County Board of Education v. White, 439 U.S. 32 ( 1978), and United States v. Sheffield Board of Commr's, 435 U.S. 110, 98 S. Ct. 965 (1978), this Court broadly construed the terms " State or political subdivision" so as to subject the entities at issue there to the 5 preclearance requirement. By contrast, in City of Rome v. United States, 446 U.S. 156 (1980), the Court narrowly construed the terms for the purpose of limiting resort to the Act's so called "bailout" provisions. Because this Court has not yet settled on the proper construction of the term "political subdivision", this issue also strikes me as worthy of review by this Court.

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