Opinion ID: 3040944
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The First Gingles Precondition

Text: Under the first Gingles precondition, Bone Shirt must show that Indians constitute a minority that is sufficiently large and geographically compact to constitute a majority in a single-member district. Gingles, 478 U.S. at 50. This first precondition focuses upon whether the district court can “fashion a permissible remedy in the particular context of the challenged system.” Sanchez v. Colorado, 97 F.3d 1303, 1311 (10th Cir. 1996) (quoting Nipper v. Smith, 39 F.3d 1494, 1530-31 (11th Cir. 1994)). If no “proper and workable remedy exists,” then a plaintiff’s claims fail as a matter of law. Cottier, 445 F.3d at 1117. In Cottier, this Court sustained redistricting plans under the first Gingles precondition so long as the proposed plans offered Indians a “more reasonable opportunity” to elect representatives of their choice. Id. The State contends that the district court erroneously determined that Indians need not have a supermajority in the newly-created district. This Court rejected a similar argument in Cottier. Id. The question is whether the minority population has an “equal opportunity” to elect its preferred candidate, not whether it will actually muster the votes to do so. League of United Latin Am. Citizens v. Perry, 126 S. Ct. 2594, 2615-16 (2006). In any event, the State’s argument is beside the point, as Bone -17- Shirt demonstrated that there were five potential remedial plans that gave Indians a supermajority of over 65 percent in the new District 26, the remedial district. As such, I cannot say that the district court clearly erred when it concluded that Indians constituted a minority that was sufficiently large and compact to constitute a majority in a single-member district. In addition, the Court accurately described the proposed remedial districts, ante at 8, and I likewise conclude that the proposed remedial districts are not themselves racial gerrymanders.