Abrams v. Johnson

In upholding the district court's plan, the Court emphasized its previous decisions which stated that race may not be taken into account by a state legislature or court in creating election districts, even where race is used to promote minority representation.

Article I, section 3 of the Constitution requires that the number of U.S. Representatives for each state be apportioned--that is, distributed--based on each state's population, which is determined by a census taken every 10 years. Under this provision, if a state gains sufficient population over the ten year period between one census and the next, it may gain an additional congressperson in the House of Representatives. Conversely, because the total number of Representatives is fixed at 435, if a state loses population it will also lose one or more congresspersons. Under this system, each congressperson is elected from a district within the state he or she represents. Thus, if a state has ten congressional seats, it will have ten congressional districts. However, if a state gains or loses a congressional seat, the state must redraw its congressional districts to reflect the change, a process known as "redistricting" or "reapportionment."