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No. 18-281October Term 2018Decided Jun 17, 2019

Docket 18-281October Term 2018 (2018–2019)

Virginia House of Delegates v. Bethune-Hill

Virginia voters challenged 11 Virginia House of Delegates districts as unconstitutional racial gerrymanders, and a federal district court struck those districts down.

Case status

Current stage
Decided
Latest event
Decision released Jun 17, 2019
Case Accepted
Arguments
Decision ReleasedJun 17, 2019
What it's about

Virginia voters challenged 11 Virginia House of Delegates districts as unconstitutional racial gerrymanders, and a federal district court struck those districts down. The Supreme Court ultimately dismissed the appeal, holding that the Virginia House of Delegates could not continue the case on its own after the State chose not to appeal.

Question presented

1. Whether the district court conducted a proper "holistic" analysis of the majority-minority Virginia House of Delegates districts under the prior decision in this case, Bethune-Hill v. Va. State Bd. of Elections, 137 S. Ct. 788, 799 (2017), even though it ignored a host of evidence, including: a. the overwhelming majority of district lines, which were carried over unchanged from the prior map; b. the geographic location of population disparities, which imposed severe redistricting constraints and directly impacted which voters were moved into and out of the majority-minority districts; and c. the degree of constraint the House's Voting Rights Act compliance goals imposed in implementation, which was minimal. 2. Whether the Bethune-Hill "predominance" test is satisfied merely by a lengthy description of ordinary Voting Rights Act compliance measures. 3. Whether the district court erred in relying on expert analysis it previously rejected as unreliable and irrelevant and expert analysis that lacked any objective or coherent methodology. 4. Whether the district court committed clear error in ignoring the entirety of the House's evidentiary presentation under the guise of credibility determinations unsupported by the record and predicated on expert testimony that should not have been credited or even admitted. 5. Whether Virginia's choice to draw 11 "safe" majority-minority districts of around or above 55% black voting-age population ("BVAP") was narrowly tailored in light of: a. the discretion the Voting Rights Act afforded covered jurisdictions to "choose to create a certain number of 'safe' districts, in which it is highly likely that minority voters will be able to elect the candidate of their choice,"?

Case path

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia / Decision released Jun 17, 2019

Area

Elections, Civil Rights

Timing

Decided June 17, 2019

The Court released its decision on June 17, 2019 without hearing oral argument.