<x-flowed>DeGrandy is indeed on point. I was a trial lawyer in that case. Just
to clarify, there was not proportional representation statewide.
Instead, the Court bought the State's argument that you should look at
proportional representation based on a particular region within the state.
Another example is the VRA litigation in the mid to late 90s concerning
congressional redistricting in Chicago. (I can't recall the case name
offhand). That also concerned competition between Hispanics and
African-Americans. SJM
Daniel Schuman wrote:
Mr. Mayer,
See Johnson v. De Grandy (1994). There was redistricting in State
House and Senate in Florida, pitting two minorities (Cubans and
Blacks) against one another.
Held: there is no discrimination claim b/c even though they met the
Gingles test, proportional representation is good enough. Maximization
of minority districts is not required. Souter: VRA protects against
political famine, not feast. Section 2 is about equality of opportunity.
I think this is what you are looking for. Let me know,
Daniel Schuman
===============
Emory University School of Law
Class of 2006
404/312-8255
Kenneth R. Mayer wrote:
Can anyone provide information about how often different minority
groups are at odds with each other over VRA issues? Are there
examples of litigation in which, for example, Hispanic and African
American voters in a jurisdiction have both challenged a
redistricting plan or other voting practice, alleging vote dilution,
and sought changes which would affect the other groupÕs claims? How
do judges balance these competing claims?
****************************************
Kenneth R. Mayer
Professor, Department of Political Science
1050 Bascom Mall
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Madison, WI 53706
(608) 263-2286/ fax (608) 265-2663
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