946
Stevens, J., dissenting
IV
Although the Court assumes that North Carolina had a compelling interest in avoiding liability under § 2, ante, at 916, it avoids conclusively resolving that question because it holds that District 12 was not a "narrowly tailored" means of achieving that end. The majority reaches this conclusion by determining that District 12 did not "remedy" any potential violation of § 2 that may have occurred. Ibid.
In my judgment, if a State's new plan successfully avoids the potential litigation entirely, there is no reason why it must also take the form of a "remedy" for an unproven violation. Thus, the fact that no § 2 violation has been proved in the territory that constitutes District 12 does not show that the district fails to serve a compelling state interest. It shows only that a federal court, which is constrained by Article III, would not have had the power to require North Carolina to draw that district. It is axiomatic that a State should have more authority to institute a districting plan than would a federal court. Voinovich v. Quilter, 507 U. S., at 156-157.
That District 12 will protect North Carolina from liability seems clear. The record gives no indication that any of the potential § 2 claimants is interested in challenging the plan that contains District 12. Moreover, as a legal matter, North Carolina is in a stronger position to defend against a § 2 lawsuit with District 12 than without it.
Johnson v. De Grandy expressly states that, at least in the context of single-member districting plans, a plaintiff cannot make out a prima facie case of vote dilution under § 2 unless he can demonstrate that his proposed map contains more majority-minority districts than the State's. 512 U. S., at 1008. By creating a plan with two majority-minority dis-
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