Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 1, 1995 TAG: 9507030019
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: NEWPORT NEWS DAILY PRESS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Long
Virginia's black-majority districts at all levels of government could face legal challenges because of Thursday's U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
In striking down a congressional redistricting plan in Georgia, the Supreme Court ruled that race should not be ``the predominant factor'' in drawing political district boundaries.
That decision, which observers say is considerably broader than previous rulings, could undermine Virginia's election districts for Congress, the General Assembly and possibly city council and school board elections, some lawmakers and others predicted.
``I don't think there's any question the implications could be felt in Virginia,'' said state Del. Jerrauld Jones, D-Norfolk, chairman of the General Assembly's Black Caucus. ``It didn't seem that the court made it a very difficult test to challenge'' black-majority election districts.
When congressional and state legislative district boundaries were redrawn in 1991, several new districts were formed precisely to create a majority-black electorate. One such district led to the election of Virginia's first and only black congressman since Reconstruction, Democrat Robert C. Scott of Newport News.
At the time, many said the federal Voting Rights Act requires that a black-majority district be created whenever possible.
Not so, said Justice Anthony Kennedy, who wrote the majority opinion in Thursday's 5-4 ruling. Black-majority district plans can be overturned, Kennedy wrote, when challengers prove ``that the legislature subordinated traditional race-neutral districting principles ... to racial considerations.''
``What this does is change the whole direction of voting rights,'' said Kent Willis, executive director of the Virginia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. ``For the last 30 years, the implementation of voting rights has been building minority districts. What this does is send a message to anyone wanting to challenge existing districts that they now have something to go on.''
The ruling, which applies specifically to Georgia's 11th Congressional District, does not mean that any Virginia districts are in immediate jeopardy. Some observers said, however, that the decision was broad enough to invite lawsuits in Virginia.
``From everything I've heard, it sounds fairly broad-sweeping,'' said David Johnson, executive director of the state Republican Party.
The biggest target could be Scott's district, which stretches from Norfolk to Richmond to the rural reaches of the Middle Peninsula. The district cuts across 16 counties and cities.
``It's obvious the 3rd Congressional District was drawn solely on the basis of race,'' Johnson said.
Scott disputed that assessment, saying it ``seems clear that Virginia's congressional and state legislative redistricting plans are in compliance with the Voting Rights Act.'' He cited a concurring opinion by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who said the ``vast majority'' of congressional districts are valid ``even though race may well have been considered in the redistricting process.''
Gov. George Allen, a Republican, said Thursday that he supports the court ruling. ``His general feeling is that race should not be the sole criterion'' in drawing district lines, said spokesman Ken Stroupe.
Although Allen did not say whether he expects court challenges in Virginia, Stroupe said, ``There are a number of districts in Virginia that are puzzling in their configuration.''
State Attorney General Jim Gilmore is reviewing the court ruling but had no comment Thursday.
Jones, the General Assembly's Black Caucus chairman, criticized the court decision as an abrupt reversal of decades of judicial policy. The ruling, he said, will ``take us in the wrong direction.''
The decision builds on a 1993 Supreme Court ruling in a North Carolina case in which the court said for the first time that black-majority districts can be unconstitutional when their geographical shapes take bizarre forms.
But Thursday's ruling appeared broader in scope because Kennedy said the shape of the district is not the overriding factor. Rather, he said, minority districts can be challenged whenever traditional principles of compactness and respect for local political subdivision boundaries ``were subordinated to racial objectives.''
``That was the whole purpose of the law in the first place: to help remediate past discrimination,'' countered Jones, the General Assembly's Black Caucus chairman. ``Now, all of a sudden, the court legislates that that's not so.''
Willis, the ACLU director, said that most black-majority districts may be safe - for political reasons. Republicans have an interest in safeguarding black districts because their creation also cleared the way for strongly white-majority, Republican-leaning districts around them. And Democrats may find it difficult to challenge black districts in Virginia while all such districts have Democratic incumbents.
``Practical politics may cap the number of lawsuits that come out of this decision,'' Willis said. ``The parties have to look at the consequences of changing district lines.''
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB