City of Rome v. United States

Summary

The Court upheld the Voting Rights Act's application to Rome, ruling that a municipality within a covered State cannot independently bail out of the Act's preclearance requirements. It also held that the Attorney General timely rejected Rome's reconsideration request and that Congress constitutionally may prohibit voting changes having discriminatory effects, including under a statewide remedy that overrides otherwise applicable federalism principles. The Court further upheld the factual findings that Rome failed to show that its electoral changes and 13 annexations would not dilute Black voting strength. Justice Blackmun and Justice Stevens concurred, while Justices Powell and Rehnquist dissented on statutory and constitutional grounds.