Shaw v. Reno

Appellant

Ruth O. Shaw, et al.

Appellee

Janet Reno, U.S. Attorney General, et al.

Appellant's Claim

That the state of North Carolina created an unconstitutional racially gerrymandered district, which violates the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause.

Chief Lawyer for Appellant

Robinson O. Everett

Chief Lawyer for Appellee

H. Jefferson Powell

Justices for the Court

Anthony M. Kennedy, Sandra Day O'Connor (writing for the Court), William H. Rehnquist, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas

Justices Dissenting

Harry A. Blackmun, David H. Souter, John Paul Stevens, Byron R. White

Place

Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision

28 June 1993

Decision

The district court's decision was reversed and remanded.

Significance

The U.S. Supreme Court considered the many complex and difficult issues involved when the state of North Carolina proposed the creation of a second majority-minority district no wider than a two-lane highway, raising the possibility that this action violated the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause.