12
Opinion of the Court
of the 1990 census might open the door to political tampering in the future. The Secretary also noted that statistical adjustment might diminish the incentive for state and local political leaders to assist in the conduct of the initial enumeration. See id., at 143a-144a. In conclusion, the Secretary stated that the Bureau would continue its research into the possibility of statistical adjustment of future censuses, and would maintain its efforts to improve the accuracy and inclusiveness of the initial enumeration. Id., at 145a.
The plaintiffs returned to court. The District Court concluded that the Secretary's decision violated neither the Constitution nor federal law. See New York v. United States Dept. of Commerce, 822 F. Supp. 906 (EDNY 1993).
Respondents appealed, arguing that the District Court had adopted the wrong standard of review for their constitutional claim,7 and the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed by a divided vote. 34 F. 3d 1114 (1994); Pet. App. 1a-40a. The majority looked to a line of precedent involving judicial review of intrastate districting decisions, see, e. g., Karcher v. Daggett, 462 U. S. 725 (1983); Wesberry v. Sanders, 376 U. S. 1 (1964), and found that a heightened standard of review was required here both because the Secretary's decision impacted a fundamental right, viz., the right to have one's vote counted, and because the decision had a disproportionate impact upon certain identifiable minority racial groups. 34 F. 3d, at 1128. The court then held that the plaintiffs had shown that the Secretary had failed to make a good-faith effort to achieve equal districts as nearly as possible, id., at 1130, and therefore that the defendants must bear the burden of proving that population deviations were necessary to achieve some legitimate state goal, id., at 1131. The court remanded for an inquiry into whether the Secretary could show that the decision not to
7 Respondents did not appeal the District Court's treatment of their statutory claims.
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