US SUPREME COURT DECISIONS

531 U.S. 28

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OCTOBER TERM, 2000

Per Curiam

SINKFIELD ET AL. v. KELLEY ET AL.

ON APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF ALABAMA

No. 00-132. Decided November 27, 2000*

Appellees are white Alabama voters residing in majority-white districts adjacent to majority-minority districts. All of the districts were created under a state redistricting plan whose purpose was maximizing the number of majority-minority districts. Appellants are a group of African-American voters, whose initial state lawsuit resulted in the adoption of the plan at issue, and state officials. Appellees brought suit in Federal District Court challenging their own districts as the products of unconstitutional racial gerrymandering. The court agreed as to seven of the challenged majority-white districts and enjoined their use in any election. On direct appeal to this Court, appellants contend, among other things, that appellees lack standing under United States v. Hays, 515 U. S. 737.

Held: Appellees lack standing under Hays because they have neither alleged nor produced any evidence that any of them was assigned to his or her district as a direct result of having personally been subjected to a racial classification, see id., at 745. They essentially claim that an unconstitutional use of race in drawing the boundaries of majorityminority districts necessarily involves an unconstitutional use of race in drawing the boundaries of neighboring majority-white districts. This Court rejected that argument in Hays, explaining that evidence sufficient to support an equal protection claim under Shaw v. Reno, 509 U. S. 630, with respect to a majority-minority district did not prove anything with respect to a neighboring majority-white district in which the appellees resided. Accordingly, an allegation to that effect does not allege a cognizable injury under the Fourteenth Amendment. 515 U. S., at 746.

96 F. Supp. 2d 1301, vacated and remanded.

PER CURIAM.

These cases involve a challenge to Alabama state legislative districts under the equal protection principles an-

*Together with No. 00-133, Bennett, Secretary of State of Alabama, et al. v. Kelley et al., also on appeal from the same court.


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nounced by this Court in Shaw v. Reno, 509 U. S. 630 (1993). Appellees, the plaintiffs below, are white Alabama voters who are residents of various majority-white districts. The districts in which appellees reside are adjacent to majorityminority districts. All of the districts were created under a state redistricting plan whose acknowledged purpose was the maximization of the number of majority-minority districts in Alabama. Appellants in No. 00-132 are a group of African-American voters whose initial state lawsuit resulted in the adoption of the redistricting plan at issue. Appellants in No. 00-133 are Alabama state officials.

Appellees brought suit in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama challenging their own districts as the products of unconstitutional racial gerrymandering. A three-judge court convened to hear the case pursuant to 28 U. S. C. § 2284. The District Court ultimately held that seven of the challenged majority-white districts were the product of unconstitutional racial gerrymandering and enjoined their use in any election. 96 F. Supp. 2d 1301 (MD Ala. 2000). On direct appeal to this Court pursuant to 28 U. S. C. § 1253, appellants in both cases contend, among other things, that appellees lack standing to maintain this suit under our decision in United States v. Hays, 515 U. S. 737 (1995). We agree.

Hays involved a challenge to Louisiana's districting plan for its Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. The plan contained two majority-minority districts. The appellees lived in a majority-white district that bordered on one of the majority-minority districts. The appellees challenged the entire plan, including their own district, as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander under our decision in Shaw v. Reno, supra. United States v. Hays, 515 U. S., at 739-742.

We concluded that the appellees lacked standing to maintain their challenge. We assumed for the sake of argument that the evidence was sufficient to state a Shaw claim with respect to the neighboring majority-minority district. Id.,


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