504
Opinion of Stevens, J.
In fact, in Beer—which held that a legislative reapportionment enhancing the position of African-American voters did not have a discriminatory effect—the Court stated that "an ameliorative new legislative apportionment cannot violate § 5 unless the new apportionment itself so discriminates on the basis of race or color as to violate the Constitution." 425 U. S., at 141.6 Thus, to the extent that the Beer Court addressed the question at all, it suggested that certain nonretrogressive changes that were nevertheless discriminatory should not be precleared.
The Court discounts the significance of the "unless" clause because it refers to a constitutional violation rather than a statutory violation. According to the Court's reading, the Beer dictum at most precludes preclearance of changes that violate the Constitution rather than changes that violate § 2. This argument is unpersuasive. As the majority notes, the Beer Court cites White v. Regester, 412 U. S., at 766, which found unconstitutional a reapportionment scheme that gave African-American residents "less opportunity than did other residents in the district to participate in the political processes and to elect legislators of their choice." Because, in 1976, when Beer was decided, the § 2 standard was coextensive with the constitutional standard, Beer did not purport to distinguish between challenges brought under the Constitution and those brought under the statute. Rather Beer's dictum suggests that any changes that violate the standard established in White v. Regester should not be precleared.7
6 In Lockhart the Court disavowed reliance on the ameliorative character of the change reviewed in Beer, see 460 U. S., at 134, n. 10. It left open the question whether Congress had altered the Beer standard when it amended § 2 in 1982, 460 U. S., at 133, n. 9, and said nothing about the possible significance of a violation of a constitutional or statutory prohibition against vote dilution.
7 In response to this dissent, the majority contends that, at most, Beer v. United States, 425 U. S. 130 (1976), allows denial of preclearance for those changes that violate the Constitution. See ante, at 482-483. Thus, the majority apparently concedes that our "settled interpretation," ante,
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