1、CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Legal SidebarLegal Sidebar Racial Gerrymandering: Past Cases and the Supreme Courts Upcoming Decision in Bethune-Hill II March 14, 2019 On March 18, 2019, the Supreme Court is set to hear argument in Virginia House of Delegates v. Bet
2、hune-Hill (Bethune-Hill II), a case raising the question of whether the Commonwealth of Virginia violated the Fourteenth Amendments Equal Protection Clause by using race as the determinative factor in drawing its state legislative map. This case is not the Courts first encounter with Virginias legis
3、lative map. Barely two years ago, the Court issued its decision in Bethune-Hill v. Virginia State Board of Elections (Bethune-Hill I), where it reviewed a district courts determination that all of the challenged districts passed constitutional muster. Holding that the lower court had applied an inco
4、rrect legal standard for all but one of the challenged districts, the Court remanded the case for reconsideration. During the March 18 argument, the Court will review the district courts second decision, which concluded that all of the challenged districts are unconstitutional racial gerrymanders. W