Legal Research on Congressional Record S6500, S6502

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It ehould be understood tr Ene

outset tlrat proponent! of the results
ie.t arc no lbnier talking about'dls'
crmfnattou" they are simply talklng
about "dlsparate lmpsct." These con'
cepts have little to do wlth on€ 8rl'
other.

Rether than stmPlY focustng upon
ttrqse puUtlc ectlons thsl obstructed or
interf6reO wlth the access of mlnor'
ttteg to the reglstratlon and vottnS
;rocess€s' the Droposed results tcst
il-uta-to,ius upoi whether or not rarl'

norlttea were suqcessfut tn belnS elect'
eO to otttce. Dlscrlmlnatlon would be
taeniUteC oo the basls of shether ml'
norttles were proporLlonately Fqfq
senteA <to thelrpopulatlon) oB elected
iesl8littve uoates rather than upon the
Lu'esitou of whether mlnortttea had
6cn OeUeA access to reslstratlon 8nd
tfre baltot because ol thelr race or gkln
colon

Desplte objecttoru to the descrlptlon
ol tne resufts tect as one focused upon
oroportlonel repreEentouon for mlnor'
ltiii tuere ls no other logtcal meanlng
to tie new tesL To speats o( "dtscrlml'
;tory r€sult8" ls to 6PeaI Pqglv and
8t-ttt of repinl .balance and rzctal
;G-trs" The,premlse of the results tcst
i tuet any dtspartty betseen Elnorlty
oooufeilon 8nd Elnorlty representar
fto-n evtdences dlscrtrnlrnatlon- As the
Srore-e Court observed ln the recent
clti ol Moblbv. Bolden deciston:

'nre thcory ol the dlss€Dtlng oplnlon (Prq
Do"ins . "niutts" t€st) .ppcerr to b. ihd
-.rcry-mttttcet lroup or * lelst evcry gucb
ili-,i" -tnri G ti'tnd nuorttt hg . Fed'ril
6ndttuUonrf dsht to elec! crn ldrtc. b
;.oDottton to tt nunbcrt . . - tDG Gcud Plq
i;-too-cl8u!G do€. Dot rcqulru nrgpo{4r!
reprerentrtlon i! .rr lDDGEtlYc ol DdItfoI
or3rnlzodon'

Loart from the fact thal the result
test- trnports tnto the VoHnt nEilt
iict- etlieori ol dlscrtmtnetton thal tr
lnconslstenf wltlr the tradltlonel une
&rstatldtnS of dtscrtnllrauon. -thq
ouuUc mUcY tmPact ol the nes trd
-soulrl be lar reachlnt. Under tlre !c-
sult! t€6L Fre<terel courts wt[ bG

oUttsed to dlsmantlc coun[ess -syst€m!-'- .

ol Btatc end local goYemBeni urlE 8rr]-
;t Eid3ned to' actrteve proporttoqal.
reDrcsentstton Tttll llr prectsely th*
thc platntllfs itt€mDteC to's€cure rrr

Ue yAU ce.E rad. ln faa&,:terl lrfAa- '

ccssftrl b rcbl€vtns b'tha lqttr Ht''
crel courtr. Ercspttc tlc lrct thst-t[66-
saa Bo Droot ol dlrrl4lnstory- Purt
oose In tUo ctrDlbhroot d Ua crcq'
fnrel (et.lrrsG) tfta ln IoDOc enif

underthe tntmt rtan&
r-steodsrd ttlrt lrl hErtr utnat-
ud donfurlng at bed, Tt ta{G ot

vlll eltectlvely replecc tbc nrla
tg thrt, up to nos, her dgted tn
ueo ol votlng rtShts. Thcre tr no

olfered to eltJrer tb courtr

developmcot ol rhl!
-dncG. t&+-reeonsffi irrrr

t Thls would mart r sDlrl, !c.
!gn:'tba nottoru d dEElnaz

nca,*conrelqEDl _Thh
r. rErp'rFperturr C,wn

lshed .s the:lss d fu lro*
\ ?ootd:af Edqlld+ &

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - SENI
Clvll Rlghts Act ot 196{, and lndeed
the Votlng Rlshts Act ltseU.If tJre results t€st b tncorporeted
lnto the Vottng Rtshts acfana tnenqulte ltkely lnto other clvfl rtghts sttb
ut€s as s result-the quesilon of racc
wlll lntnrde coDstanily lnto declslonr t

I Qt
)ttoc7\Ju^" (,'

Jk"*t

';,osczt-Ju* 1 -?. poetltuttonsl Jeoparay throughout
E IDO-Ngtlon partlc'ulerly ll firrlsdlctlons
*Ltltl sucb electoral syst€or contalned

dei-itte tua i.^t thrgLllt}rit crelt-
and lestthrtc mndslmlnelort Pul.
m6€s to aucb a systen the lower court
n U*tle ordered r Loti.d reva,nprent
ol the dtifs munlclpol system bccausG
It hrd not achleved Droportlond reDrt
aentrtlor. l

Thc eblerto eyrtro of electloa b t&r
Drlrclpsl tmnedlrta t$Eet of pmoo.
neute ol tho rcerlta-t .L. Deelt. tG
peatad chellenrrliJDr proprEtv d

9, 198'
ri.lsr8e systcE+ thc Supreoe Court
Drr conslstently reJected tle notton
thrt the at-large syst€E of electlon ls
bherently rllscdmfnatory toward El-

! oorlHes.0 Tlre Court ln U&A. bas ob,

ol algntllcent mfnortt' Brroups
l-lc-subJect to close strtlrry by

tbD Federel Judclsry, rrn&r the pro
poed resufts t€8t. To the extent tlret

rrEults become tlrc losus ol
.nnnlJrslg lDd lndeed

the exlstencs or urncdstenoE
dlscrlmlnstlon, lt ts.dlffta't to con-

how proportlonal repmtatton
raoE can f,vold belns esEDllshed ln

as ttre standerd for treatllylng

.i' rcned that Uterelly f,[6rrsrnrlc ol mu.
i-1, btdpsutles and other local mvenrnen-'ir DlGtPautres alrq Ofner l(rcff SOYenfEen-
+ trl unlts throughout the Natlou have
i rloPtea an et-larep systeo-.

ddstures. Ieslslstlve boda tpneral-
tbrt lacked proportlonel r=presente.

:. To establlsh e results tctt, ln sectlon
be to place at-lergc lUsfreEB ttr

numbers ol nloortdes 8nd
Ircled proportlonel repres.Dtrtton on

elected represeutetlvc counclls or toral decLslonr-

relatlng to the votlng and electoral
process. Ractel gerrymsnderjng and
raclal bloc votlrU wlll become normal
(rcsurrences, gilven leenl and consHtu-
tlonsl recoeoltlon and sancilon by thb
Votln8 Rlght! Act; Increaslng,, rather
than decreaslng, focugupon race and
ethnlclty wlll trkc place tn the courseol otlrerurlse rputtne voilng and ele

rlmlnatlon and. ecually lmoortanL
the standant lor ascertrlnlng tbc

ol tudlclal cfvtl rtght

Ui; fict, hosever. thrt thc
t€str tn my vler, vttr lead to rt nrsloruatlon tn tDc ldea ol

aS Well e8 tO r rlrrT eD-
ol tlre role of tDG Federel

ln tbc electorel proccllD thc nc.
t st lr an lnspprcprletc t d lor

dlscrlmrnstloD lc rereral
rreasonsr FlrrG thc rlofE t€st

ntstltut , ttr tlrc alrclof r dcar
v'ell-und6iatood ruL d lu ttrt

lndtvtdusf comm-unltter by the ra
teat ar to whlclr electorel rtruo
rnd errangementr aru yrlld r,nd
ara lnvalld. Glven tb. Lct oi

m.gcga*rtlo rad:&6
tqt ons of r mtlr

'lobJcctlvc ftriai d df!,
3$ lr dtfncralf toa tor
e Garc-ll not rE [rchttrr-ll not ea trchtter

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