Cite as: 517 U. S. 952 (1996)
Opinion of O'Connor, J.
would lead to a retrogression in the position of racial minorities with respect to their effective exercise of the electoral franchise.' " Miller, 515 U. S., at 926 (quoting Beer v. United States, 425 U. S. 130, 141 (1976)). Appellants contend that this "nonretrogression" principle is implicated because Harris County had, for two decades, contained a congressional district in which African-American voters had succeeded in selecting representatives of their choice, all of whom were African-Americans.
The problem with the State's argument is that it seeks to justify not maintenance, but substantial augmentation, of the African-American population percentage in District 18. At the previous redistricting, in 1980, District 18's population was 40.8% African-American. Plaintiffs' Exh. 13B, p. 55. As a result of Hispanic population increases and African-American emigration from the district, its population had reached 35.1% African-American and 42.2% Hispanic at the time of the 1990 census. The State has shown no basis for concluding that the increase to a 50.9% African-American population in 1991 was necessary to ensure nonretrogression. Nonretrogression is not a license for the State to do whatever it deems necessary to ensure continued electoral success; it merely mandates that the minority's opportunity to elect representatives of its choice not be diminished, directly or indirectly, by the State's actions. We anticipated this problem in Shaw I, 509 U. S., at 655: "A reapportionment plan would not be narrowly tailored to the goal of avoiding retrogression if the State went beyond what was reasonably necessary to avoid retrogression." Applying that principle, it is clear that District 18 is not narrowly tailored to the avoidance of § 5 liability.
IV
The dissents make several further arguments against today's decision, none of which address the specifics of this case. We have responded to these points previously. Justice Souter, for example, reiterates his contention from
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