546
Opinion of the Court
The state officials filed a notice of appeal. We noted probable jurisdiction, 524 U. S. 980 (1998), and now reverse.
II
Our decisions have established that all laws that classify citizens on the basis of race, including racially gerrymandered districting schemes, are constitutionally suspect and must be strictly scrutinized. Shaw II, 517 U. S., at 904; Miller v. Johnson, 515 U. S. 900, 904-905 (1995); Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Peña, 515 U. S. 200, 227 (1995). When racial classifications are explicit, no inquiry into legislative purpose is necessary. See Shaw I, 509 U. S., at 642. A facially neutral law, on the other hand, warrants strict scrutiny only if it can be proved that the law was "motivated by a racial purpose or object," Miller, supra, at 913, or if it is " 'unexplainable on grounds other than race,' " Shaw I, supra, at 644 (quoting Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development Corp., 429 U. S. 252, 266 (1977)); see also Miller, supra, at 905, 913. The task of assessing a jurisdiction's motivation, however, is not a simple matter; on the contrary, it is an inherently complex endeavor, one requiring the trial court to perform a "sensitive inquiry into such circumstantial and direct evidence of intent as may be available." Arlington Heights, supra, at 266; see also Miller, supra, at 905, 914 (citing Arlington Heights); Shaw I, supra, at 644 (same).2
Appellees 6, n. 13; App. to Juris. Statement 179a. Because the State's 1998 law provides that the State will revert to the 1997 districting plan upon a favorable decision of this Court, see 1998 N. C. Sess. Laws, ch. 2, § 1.1, this case is not moot, see City of Mesquite v. Aladdin's Castle, Inc., 455 U. S. 283, 288-289, and n. 11 (1982); Zablocki v. Redhail, 434 U. S. 374, 382, n. 9 (1978); Bullock v. Carter, 405 U. S. 134, 141-142, n. 17 (1972).
2 Cf. Reno v. Bossier Parish School Bd., 520 U. S. 471, 488 (1997) (holding that, in cases brought under § 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Arlington Heights framework should guide a court's inquiry into whether a jurisdiction had a discriminatory purpose in enacting a voting change); Rogers v. Lodge, 458 U. S. 613, 618 (1982) (same framework is to be used in evaluating vote dilution claims brought under the Equal Protection Clause).
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