Louisiana v. Callais · ¶25

The decision in White did not say anything one way or another about proof of discriminatory purpose or intent, but the Court's rationale rested on evidence that gave rise to an obvious inference that the State had set out to prevent the election of candidates preferred by minority voters. The Texas districting scheme generally used single-member districts but employed multimember districts in two parts of the State where single-member districts might have resulted in the election of minority candidates. The Court observed that the use of multimember districts is not “necessarily” or “per se” unconstitutional, but it recognized that such districts can be employed to achieve discriminatory ends. Id., at 765; see also Perkins v. Matthews, 400 U. S. 379, 389 (1971) (observing that a switch to at-large elections could be a “metho[d] to maintain white control of the political process”); Allen…

preliminary print (page proof)
Source edition
Passage preview. Read in context for the complete text, notes and references.