Attorney Notes Pages 1575-1576
Annotated Secondary Research
January 1, 1982

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Case Files, Thornburg v. Gingles Working Files - Guinier. Attorney Notes Pages 1575-1576, 1982. 5a085cea-e092-ee11-be37-6045bdeb8873. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/89017b4a-a030-4d84-8779-0b9b91e3cded/attorney-notes-pages-1575-1576. Accessed July 09, 2025.
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lsY-7(tr*W( a)s- 1992 voulh anend S 2 of the VoEing Righte AcE of 1965' a pcrreottt rection of the U' S. Code,42 U.S.C' !.11973, in order to overEurn Ehe decieion of Ehe United StaEeg Supreue CourE in City of Mobile v. Bolden, 446 U.S. 55, (1980) wtrich held thaE a violaEion of that section may be eetabliehed only by proof of diecrioinatory intent' S' 1992 would subsLiEute a nodified effecl test for the Courtre inLent standard' It would outlaw any practice ttwhich resulEs in a denial or abridgemenE" of the right to vote' provided that t'the fact that oembers of a minority grouP have not been elecEed in numbere egual to the grouP's proportion of Ehe populaEion 6h411 not' in and of itself, consEicute a violaEion of chie aection"' In our vierr this propoeal ia, eianding alone' vague and inherenEly eelf-contradictory' Ilowever' there is a more fundarental reaaoo for our reluctance to endorse this secEion as it is currently sritEen. We believe that Ehe propoaed ! 2 oay be applied' by the courEa (and legislaturee) 8o that in practice it ioplemente a syaEem of proportional repreaentaEioo -- that ie ' a syatem in wtrich effectivenees of Ehe freedou Eo voEe ie oeaeured by the skin color of the Pereons elected' . lJe undersEand EhaE these reaulte are not inEended by the aponaora of S. 1992' It is our uodergEanding thet the suPPorter8 of S. 1992 do noE intend to equate the standard under t 2 t'ith the non-regression effecEs aEandard of S 5' and Ehat' in thie view' S' 1992 would not allow a plaintiff to oake out a $ 2 cage nerely by a showing that a particuler 3roup ic oot elecEing rePreoentatives in proportion to ito Presence in the populetion' se l8'ree that theee principlee ought to Sovern I 2 creea' but ec 're Dot ..ti!fied th!t EhG Hourc-perrcd lroguegc' or th' lcairletivc hirtory, ir rufficiQotl, clc'r to prccludc rn iotcrprct'tion rAicb yould tcnd tou.rd I priociplc of Trogortiorlity'l