Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 4 · column 4 of 6 · from the scan, no model involved
By JOHN GOOLRICK
It is likely that for every minority elected to state legislatures or Congress as a result of redistricting following the 1990 census, two or more Republicans were voted into office.
Looking at it pragmatically, one wonders why a few Republicans from Tidewater Virginia have mounted a federal court challenge to the constitutionality of the state’s majority black 3rd District represented by Rep. Bobby Scott, a black Democrat.
They say they are offended by the notion that the General Assembly used racial considerations in 1991 when it created the 3rd and a number of majority black state legislative districts. A federal court will hear their challenge in September. .
Legal experts think they have a better than even chance of winning since the Supreme Court has already struck down several majority black districts in southern states, saying districts created solely for racial considerations and ignoring such traditional factors as compactness do not meetconstitutional muster. But the edicts, as is often the case, were fuzzy and left open the clear possibility that some majority black districts might be upheld if challenged.
The puzzling aspect is that state legislatures such as<that of Virginia were under the clear impression in the early 1990s that they had no choice but to create majority black districts whenever such districts were possible.
“That’s what we were told by the
95.8%