Nipper v. Smith

In this case, although the majority finds that a vote dilution occurred, the majority affirms the district court’s decision to deny the appellants relief under section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (Act). In reaching this conclusion, two judges (Chief Judge Tjoflat and Judge Anderson) would have us hold, for the first time in American law, that in addition to the three threshold factors described in Thornburg v. Gingles, and the Senate factors, a plaintiff class must also show the existence of racial bias motivating the voting community in order to prevail on a section 2 claim. The majority…