Shaw v. Reno - Case Background

In the fall of 1991, a reapportionment plan was submitted for the state of North Carolina that only included one black minority district. This plan was subsequently rejected by the U.S. attorney general due to the lack of minority voting representation. In order to remedy this, a revised plan was submitted that included a second majority-minority district of an unusual shape. The new district was at times no wider than a two-lane highway and ran along Interstate 85 for about 160 miles. Five residents of North Carolina filed a claim that this new district was created for the sole purpose of adding another black representative.

This rearrangement of district lines to produce a change in the voting majority of a certain area is called a "gerrymander." Because this new district consisted of such an unusual shape so that it deliberately encompassed areas with higher black populations, these residents believed that the state may have violated the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause.

The case was heard by a three-judge district court, who ruled that the residents did not prove an unconstitutional equal protection claim. An appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court was made.