Branch v. Smith

Summary

The Court affirmed the injunction against Mississippi's unprecleared state-court congressional redistricting plan and upheld the District Court's use of single-member districts. It concluded that the Justice Department's reasonable request for additional information restarted the preclearance review period and that the period ceased running when Mississippi, having declined to appeal the injunction, was no longer seeking to administer the plan. The Court vacated the District Court's alternative constitutional holding without deciding that question. Seven Justices agreed that the federal single-member-district requirement binds courts as well as legislatures. Scalia's four-Justice plurality would preserve the statutory at-large-election provisions only as a last-resort remedy when timely redistricting is no longer feasible. Kennedy concurred, explaining in a portion joined by Stevens, Souter, and Breyer that precedent required withholding constitutional review of the unprecleared plan. Stevens, joined by Souter and Breyer, concurred in part and in the judgment but concluded that Congress had impliedly repealed the federal at-large provisions and preempted Mississippi's equivalent provision. O'Connor, joined by Thomas, concurred concerning preclearance but dissented from the single-member-district ruling, concluding that the governing statute required at-large elections until Mississippi completed effective redistricting.