Cite as: 517 U. S. 952 (1996)
Stevens, J., dissenting
U. S., at 646-647, the plurality offers mathematical proof that District 30 is one of the most bizarre districts in the Nation, see ante, at 960, and relates the now-obligatory florid description of the district's shape, ante, at 965-966; see also ante, at 973-974 (describing District 29). As the maps appended to this opinion demonstrate, neither District 30 nor the Houston districts have a monopoly on either of these characteristics. Three other majority-white districts are ranked along with the majority-minority districts as among the oddest in the Nation. See Pildes & Niemi, Expressive Harms, "Bizarre Districts," and Voting Rights: Evaluating Election-District Appearances After Shaw v. Reno, 92 Mich. L. Rev. 483, 565 (1993). Perhaps the clearest example of partisan gerrymandering outside of the context of majority-minority districts is District 6, a majority-Anglo district represented by a Republican.18
18 While two extremely noncompact majority-Anglo districts in Texas (Districts 3 and 25) might be able to blame part (though by no means all) of their contortions on their contiguity with the majority-minority districts, District 6 has little excuse. Although it shares a border with District 30 for a short distance, that stretch is one of the straightest in either of the districts, running almost entirely along the county line through the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. See Appendix D, infra.
As for the obligatory florid description: District 6 has far less of an identifiable core than any of the majority-minority districts struck down by the District Court. To the extent that it "begins" anywhere, it is probably near the home of incumbent Rep. Barton in Ennis, located almost 40 miles southwest of downtown Dallas. From there, the district winds across predominantly rural sections of Ellis County, finally crossing into Tarrant County, the home of Fort Worth. It skips across two arms of Joe Pool Lake, noses its way into Dallas County, and then travels through predominantly Republican suburbs of Fort Worth. Nearing the central city, the borders dart into the downtown area, then retreat to curl around the city's northern edge, picking up the airport and growing suburbs north of town. Worn from its travels into the far northwestern corner of the county (almost 70 miles, as the crow flies, from Ennis), the district lines plunge south into Eagle Mountain Lake, traveling along the waterline for miles, with occasional detours to collect voters that have built homes along its shores. Refreshed, the district rediscovers its roots in rural Parker
1019
Page: Index Previous 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007