586
Scalia, J., dissenting
tricting agreement" entered into by these officials with individual voters would obviously be null and void. And a court decree that does not purport to be in remediation of an adjudged violation of law cannot make it binding. See Firefighters, supra, at 522-523. See also, e. g., Perkins v. Chicago Heights, 47 F. 3d 212, 216 (CA7 1995).
These principles would suffice to invalidate an unauthorized private agreement as the basis for a federal judicial decree in even the ordinary case, but they should apply even more rigorously to an agreement purportedly supporting a federal judicial decree of state reapportionment, which we have described as an "unwelcome obligation," Connor v. Finch, 431 U. S. 407, 415 (1977), that should be undertaken by a district court only as a last resort, see, e. g., White v. Weiser, 412 U. S. 783 (1973). Indeed, even if it were possible for the Florida Legislature to authorize two of its members to negotiate an apportionment agreement that could be the basis for a federal court decree, one would think that the special solicitude we have shown for preservation of the States' apportionment authority would cause the court to demand clearer credentials on the part of those who purport to speak for the legislature.3 The District Court asserted that "Florida's House and Senate . . . manifested . . . the authority to consent," 920 F. Supp., at 1251, but it points to no resolu-federal-court invalidation, see In re Constitutionality of Senate Joint Resolution 2G, supra, at 544-545.
3 The Court is of the view that participation by Florida's legislative branches was beside the point, and that the attorney general alone could propose a redistricting plan and settle this lawsuit without participation by the legislature. See ante, at 578, n. 5. I know of no support for this proposition, and the Court provides none. Moreover, this view is contrary to that of the District Court. See 920 F. Supp. 1248, 1252-1253, n. 3 (MD Fla. 1996); id., at 1255 ("Foremost among the factors commending the proposed resolution in this action is the consent of Florida's Senate and House . . ."); ibid. ("[P]roposed District 21, like present District 21, is primarily a legislative action and is advanced . . . by this court preeminently for that reason" (emphasis added)).
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