Shaw v. Reno

E94544

Shaw v. Reno is a 1993 U.S. Supreme Court case that limited the use of race in legislative redistricting by holding that bizarrely shaped, race-based districts can violate the Constitution.


Statements (47)
Predicate Object
instanceOf United States Supreme Court case
landmark voting rights case
areaOfLaw constitutional law
election law
redistricting law
arguedDate 1993-04-20
citation 509 U.S. 630
concerns congressional redistricting
majority-minority districts
constitutionalProvisionInterpreted Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
country United States
court Supreme Court of the United States
decisionDate 1993-06-28
decisionType majority decision
defendant Janet Reno
dissentBy Byron R. White NERFINISHED
David H. Souter NERFINISHED
Harry A. Blackmun NERFINISHED
John Paul Stevens NERFINISHED
docketNumber 92-357
fullName Shaw v. Reno, Attorney General
holding Bizarrely shaped, race-based districts may violate the Equal Protection Clause even if they were created to enhance minority voting strength
Race cannot be the predominant factor in drawing legislative districts without satisfying strict scrutiny under the Equal Protection Clause
impact established that race-based districting can be unconstitutional even when intended to benefit minority voters
limited the use of race in legislative redistricting
joinedByInMajority Anthony M. Kennedy NERFINISHED
Antonin Scalia NERFINISHED
Clarence Thomas NERFINISHED
William H. Rehnquist
jurisdiction federal question jurisdiction
languageOfRecord English
legalIssue Equal Protection Clause
racial gerrymandering
majorityOpinionBy Sandra Day O'Connor
originatingState North Carolina
pageInUnitedStatesReports 630
plaintiff Ruth O. Shaw NERFINISHED
precedentFor Bush v. Vera
Miller v. Johnson
Shaw v. Hunt
relatedStatute Voting Rights Act of 1965
result North Carolina congressional redistricting plan was subject to Equal Protection challenge
standardOfReview strict scrutiny
subsequentHistory case remanded for further proceedings consistent with the opinion
topic racial classification in legislative districting
shape of electoral districts
volumeOfUnitedStatesReports 509

Referenced by (2)
Subject (surface form when different) Predicate
Equal Protection Clause
basisFor
Shaw v. Reno ("Shaw v. Reno, Attorney General")
fullName

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