Cite as: 512 U. S. 874 (1994)
Thomas, J., concurring in judgment
dilution claims while pretending to renounce reliance on proportionality as a rule of decision. In Johnson v. De Grandy, post, p. 997, the Court assures us that proportionality does not provide the principle for deciding vote dilution claims. Post, at 1000, 1017-1021. Rather, the result in each case must depend on a searching inquiry into the ever-nebulously defined "totality of circumstances." Post, at 1000.
But after the Gingles preconditions have been established, post, at 1008-1009, and after White factors such as a history of discrimination have been found, see post, at 1013, where does the Court turn for a deciding principle to give some meaning to these multifarious facts, which taken individually would each appear to count in favor of a finding of vote dilution? Quite simply, the Court turns to proportionality: "Treating equal political opportunity as the focus of the enquiry, we do not see how these district lines, apparently providing political effectiveness [that is, majority-minority districts] in proportion to voting-age numbers, deny equal political opportunity." Post, at 1014. See also post, at 1013 (noting that in assessing "dilutive effect," the "pertinent features" of the districting system at issue "were majority-minority districts in substantial proportion to the minority's share of voting-age population"); post, at 1025 (O'Connor, J., concurring) (the Court's central teaching in De Grandy "is that proportionality—defined as the relationship between the number of majority-minority voting districts and the minority group's share of the relevant population—is always relevant evidence in determining vote dilution"). Justice O'Connor's comment about the Court's holding in Davis v. Bandemer, 478 U. S. 109 (1986), is equally applicable to the course pursued in De Grandy today: "[The Court's decision] ultimately rests on a political preference for proportionality—. . . a conviction that the greater the departure from proportionality, the more suspect an apportionment plan becomes." 478 U. S., at 159 (opinion concurring in judgment).
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