750
Stevens, J., concurring in judgment
Justice Breyer, with whom Justice Souter joins, concurring.
I join the Court's opinion to the extent that it discusses voters, such as those before us, who do not reside within the district that they challenge.
Justice Stevens, concurring in the judgment.
The majority apparently would find standing under Shaw v. Reno, 509 U. S. 630 (1993), for plaintiffs of all races who resided in an electoral district in which "the legislatur[e] reli[ed] on racial criteria" to classify all voters, ante, at 745, and who could show that they were " 'placed into or excluded from a district because of the color of their skin,' " ante, at 747 (citing Brief for Appellees 16). The majority fails to explain coherently how a State discriminates invidiously by deliberately joining members of different races in the same district; why such placement amounts to an injury to members of any race; and, assuming it does, to whom.
The term "gerrymander" has long been understood to mean "any set of districts which gives some advantage to the party which draws the electoral map." P. Musgrove, General Theory of Gerrymandering 6 (1977). As Justice Powell noted, "a colorable claim of discriminatory gerrymandering presents a justiciable controversy under the Equal Protection Clause." Davis v. Bandemer, 478 U. S. 109, 185 (1986) (dissenting opinion); see also Gomillion v. Lightfoot, 364 U. S. 339 (1960). The complaint in this litigation, however, did not allege a discriminatory gerrymander. Appel-lees made no claim that any political or racial majority had drawn district lines to disadvantage a weaker segment of the community. Indeed, the complaint did not even identify the race or the political affiliation of any of the appellees. It simply alleged that every voter in Louisiana was injured by being deprived of the right "to participate in a process for electing members of the House of Representatives which is
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