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17 St. & Loc. L. News 1 (1993-1994)

handle is hein.journals/stlolane1 and id is 1 raw text is: Section of Urban, State and Local Government Law Vol. 17, No. 1, Fall 1993 -URBAN, STATE and LOCAL LAW NEWSLETTER The Sertion .etves as a collegial forufor its tnetnbet, theprofession, and the pub/ic to plovide leadership atdeducationa n'soutres in uthan, slate and local govetlment law attd polio'. Shaw v. Reno: Its Impact on Reapportionment Plans By Francisco J. Aparicio and John W AlacPte I. Introduction In June, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion that many observers believed would have far-reaching effects in the area of voting rights. In Slaw v. Reno, No. 92-357, the Supreme Court reversed and remanded a federal district court decision dismissing, for failure to state a claim, an action brought by five white North Carolina voters alleging that North Carolina's reappor- tionment plan comprised an unconstitutional racial gerrymander in violation of the Fourteenth Amend- ment's Equal Protection Clause. The Court held that the central purpose of the Equal Protection Clause is to prevent the States from purposely discriminating between individuals on the basis of race; and, there- fore, an allegation that a congressional district so irra- tional on its face that it can be understood only as an effort to segregate voters into separate voting districts because of their race, and that the separation lacks suf- ficient justification adequately stated a claim tinder the Equal Protection Clause. The opinion went on to state that a district drawn solely on the basis of race must satisfy the strict scrutiny test-that it must be narrowly tailored and further a compelling governmen- tal interest-in order to pass constitutional muster. Justice White, dissenting, argued that the majority Urvn m-ya lerSymposiuim Set for Midyear Meeting, page 4 Task Force on FEmerging Issues, pa*ge 5 Law Student Notes, page 5 Photos from the Annual Meeting, page 6 Port Authoriry Response to Disaster I lighlights Annual Meeting, page 7 Supreme Court Watch, page 9 Washington's Lahyrinthine Ways, page II ignored a prior Supreme Court opinion that had decid- ed the same issue. Justice White contended that the Court's opinion in United Jewish Organizations of UWilliamsbulgh, Inc. v. Can,, 430 U.S. 144 (1977) (LUJO), reqIuired a plaintiff to allege that a reapportionment plan had resulted in a cognizable injury to a voting right in order to state an equal protection claim. The Court's opinion, while somewhat disingenuous about whether it conflicted with UJO, reached the cor- (continued on page 13) IN MEMORIAM RICHARD BABCOCK Richard F. Babcock, widely regarded as the dean of American planning lawyers, passed away on September 13. A prolific author and lecturer, Dick Babcock is perhaps best remembered for his quintessential analysis of local land-use prac- tices, he Zoning Gamne, upon which a generation of planners and land-use lawyers cut their teeth. For forty years, the name Richard Babcock was synonymous with national land-use projects, from the American Law Institute's Model Land Development Code whose advisory committee he chaired, to the path-breaking HUD report on American cities issued by George Romney. Zon- ing in dozens of cities and counties throughout the United States is the better for his deft draft- ing touch. Dozens of lawyer/planners left his tutelage in the firm that for many years bore his name to make their own marks in government service, private practice, and teaching. DavidL. Callies