Also known as: legislative districts · districting · districts · redistricting
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
The process of dividing a state into territorial districts to be represented in the state or federal legislature. The process is constrained by the Equal Protection Clause, which prohibits race from being the predominant factor that subordinates traditional districting principles such as compactness and respect for political subdivisions.
Lars Lindstrom, a voter in a newly drawn district, sued after the legislature created an irregularly shaped district that concentrated minority voters to maximize majority-minority seats. The court found that race had predominated over compactness and respect for county lines. The plan failed strict scrutiny because maximizing such districts was not a compelling interest.
Lena Lawson, indicted for election-related offenses tied to a contested district map, sought transfer of her prosecution to the district where she resided. Both United States attorneys approved the transfer in writing. The court granted the motion because the statutory conditions for transfer were satisfied.
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Luke Latham, a property owner, challenged a municipal plan that redrew legislative districts to align with new zoning classifications separating residential and commercial areas. The court upheld the alignment because the classifications bore a substantial relation to public welfare. The districting therefore survived equal-protection review.
Landon Long sued after a districting plan created districts with population deviations exceeding ten percent. The court held the claim justiciable because no Baker factor barred review and manageable equal-population standards existed. The plan was remanded for further proceedings on the one-person-one-vote violation.
Lucia Lopez, a member of a religious community, claimed that district lines forced her group into a district that diluted its voting power on school-funding issues. The court applied strict scrutiny under the Free Exercise Clause but found the lines supported by neutral, generally applicable districting criteria. The challenge failed.
Lillian Locke challenged district boundaries that assigned students to schools on the basis of race. The court held that intentional racial assignment violated equal protection. The district lines were redrawn to eliminate the racial classification.
A plan triggers strict scrutiny when race is the predominant factor in drawing district lines and traditional principles such as compactness and respect for political subdivisions are subordinated. Maximizing the number of majority-minority districts pursuant to Justice Department policy does not constitute a compelling interest.
Partisan gerrymandering claims present nonjusticiable political questions because no judicially manageable standards exist for determining when line drawing becomes unconstitutional. Courts therefore lack jurisdiction over such claims.
Challenges to legislative apportionment are justiciable when none of the six Baker factors is present. Vote-dilution claims alleging measurable population deviations or compactness violations satisfy this test and may proceed under equal-protection principles.
A bizarre shape may support an inference that race predominated, but plaintiffs must still prove that race, rather than politics or other factors, was the predominant motive. When a plan can be explained by nonracial considerations, strict scrutiny does not apply.
…petitioners, 14 same-sex couples and two men whose same-sex partners are deceased, filed these suits in the respective federal districts in their home states. Each district court ruled in their favor. The Sixth Circuit consolidated the cases and reversed the judgments. Held: The Fourteenth Amendment requires a State to…