Shaw v. Hunt

In the fall of 1991, the North Carolina state legislature proposed a redistricting plan which contained only one black majority district. The plan was rejected, and a revised plan with a second majority minority district was then pre-cleared by the attorney general. Five residents of North Carolina filed suit in district court. They claimed that, "The revised plan created a racial gerrymander in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution's Fourteenth Amendment." The case was dismissed by the district court for "failing to state a constitutional claim." An appeal was then made to the U.S. Supreme Court (Shaw v. Reno), in which the district court's decision was reversed, as the Court found that the residents had a claim under the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause. The case was remanded back to the district court to see if there were governmental reasons for the odd shape and size of the new district. The district court then found that the plan was constitutional and "did not violate the voters' equal protection rights, as the plan was narrowly tailored to further the state's compelling interests." Once again, an appeal was made by the five residents to the U.S. Supreme Court, in a suit brought against James B. Hunt, Jr., then governor of North Carolina (Shaw v. Hunt).