Opinion ID: 763120
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Geographical compactness

Text: 20 The first Gingles precondition requires that the minority group must be able to demonstrate that it is sufficiently large and geographically compact to constitute a majority in a single-member district. Gingles, 478 U.S. at 50, 106 S.Ct. 2752. The Court went on to note that if the minority group cannot show that such a district could be formed, it follows logically that the at-large system is not the cause of the alleged electoral inequities. See id. 21 The district court carefully reviewed the materials submitted by both parties and concluded that there was a sufficient number of African-Americans living somewhere within each judicial district to constitute a majority in a hypothetical single-member district. It stated, however, that the class had the burden of showing that those minority voters lived in a geographically compact pattern such that it would be possible to draw a majority-minority district with a rational shape. With regard to 14 of the 18 challenged judicial districts, the district court concluded that the class had failed to prove that such a district could be drawn. The district court, however, found that the class had met its burden with respect to the First District Court of Appeals, as well as the Cuyahoga, Hamilton, and Franklin Courts of Common Pleas. No appeal was taken by the state from this determination. 22 The class implicitly challenges the district court's determination that geographically compact, single-member districts could not be drawn in the 14 other judicial districts. But the only evidence submitted by the class to demonstrate geographical compactness was a set of maps that purported to show the concentration of African-American populations within each of Ohio's largest counties. These maps, however, did not indicate the number of Caucasians within the relevant areas or indicate the relevant census tracts, which is typically needed to draw an electoral district. The class does not dispute the district court's characterization of the maps, nor does it point to further evidence that geographically compact, single-member district could be drawn. In short, while the class offers the bare conclusion that the district court erred, it does not explain how it did so. We therefore find no error in the district court's determination that the class failed to show that geographically compact, single-member districts could be drawn in which African-Americans would constitute a majority.