Cite as: 507 U. S. 146 (1993)
Opinion of the Court
This Court has not decided whether the Fifteenth Amendment applies to vote-dilution claims; in fact, we never have held any legislative apportionment inconsistent with the Fifteenth Amendment. Beer v. United States, 425 U. S. 130, 142-143, n. 14 (1976). Nonetheless, we need not decide the precise scope of the Fifteenth Amendment's prohibition in this case. Even if we assume that the Fifteenth Amendment speaks to claims like appellees', the District Court's decision still must be reversed: Its finding of intentional discrimination was clearly erroneous. See Mobile v. Bolden, 446 U. S. 55, 62 (1980) (plurality opinion); id., at 101-103 (White, J., dissenting); id., at 90-92 (Stevens, J., concurring in judgment); id., at 80 (Blackmun, J., concurring in result).
The District Court cited only two pieces of evidence to support its finding. First, the District Court thought it significant that the plan's drafter, Tilling, disregarded the requirements of the Ohio Constitution where he believed that the Voting Rights Act of 1965 required a contrary result. App. to Juris. Statement 142a-143a, n. 8. But Tilling's preference for federal over state law when he believed the two in conflict does not raise an inference of intentional discrimination; it demonstrates obedience to the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution. Second, the District Court cited Tilling's possession of certain documents that, according to the court, were tantamount to "a road-map detailing how [one could] create a racial gerrymander." Id., at 143a, n. 9. Apparently, the District Court believed that Tilling, a Republican, sought to minimize the Democratic Party's power by diluting minority voting strength. See ibid. The District Court, however, failed to explain the nature of the documents. Contrary to the implication of the District Court opinion, the documents were not a set of Republican plans for diluting minority voting strength. In fact, they were not even created by Tilling or the Republicans. They were created by a Democrat who, concerned about possible Republican manipulation of apportionment,
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