264
Thomas, J., dissenting
2
To the limited extent that Justice Stevens and Justice Breyer address the triggering language in § 5, they fail to explain adequately how it is that the Party could qualify as a "State or political subdivision" under the Act. By referring to the White Primary Cases, however, they reveal the only conceivable basis in law for deeming the acts of the Party to be those of the State: the doctrine of state action, as developed under the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments.7 In attempting to establish the relevance of that
the context of the "candidate selection process," if the State itself enacted or sought to administer the contested change. But Justice Stevens points to nothing in § 5, or even in that statute's legislative history, that expresses any intent to include political parties within the meaning of "State or political subdivision." Finally, it is perfectly reasonable to suppose that the term "State" has a different meaning in § 5 than it does in the Fifteenth Amendment. Cf. ante, at 221. This Court has affirmed in other contexts that statutory language does not necessarily mean the same thing as parallel language in the Constitution. For instance, "[a]l-though the language of [28 U. S. C. § 1331 (1982 ed.)] parallels that of the 'Arising Under' Clause of Article III, this Court never has held that statutory 'arising under' jurisdiction is identical to Art. III 'arising under' jurisdiction." Verlinden B. V. v. Central Bank of Nigeria, 461 U. S. 480, 494 (1983). Here, the ordinary-meaning rule of statutory construction, which governs the interpretation of § 5, explains why political parties could be covered under the Fifteenth Amendment, but not under § 5: The common-sense definition of "State" is very different from the complex doctrine of state action that this Court has developed as a matter of constitutional law.
7 In fact, the Government identified our state-action cases under the Fifteenth Amendment as the justification for the Attorney General's regulation on which Justice Stevens bases his judgment. Brief for United States as Amicus Curiae 10-11. Review of the regulation confirms that it is premised upon the notion that the Party's activities can sometimes be treated as those of the State. See 28 CFR § 51.7 (1995) (referring to "public electoral function" carried out by parties and to parties "acting under authority explicitly or implicitly granted by a covered jurisdiction"). Likewise, appellants relied solely on state-action theory as their rationale for bringing the Party within § 5. See Brief for Appellants 14-20, 24-25.
Page: Index Previous 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007