Supreme Court Report

Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →

Virginia House of Delegates, et al., Appellants v. Golden Bethune-Hill, et al.

Paid petition · United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, No. 3:14cv852 · judgment June 26, 2018

Decided · June 17, 2019
Pre-decision estimate: 44% cert probability (95% interval 26%–64%)

Before the decision, about 10.7× the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for a direct appeal from a three-judge district court (mandatory jurisdiction), a petition filed soon after the judgment below, and counsel with five or more prior petitions here.

Questions presented

  1. Whether the district court conducted a proper "holistic" analysis of the majority-minority Virginia House of Delegates districts under the prior decision in this case, Bethune-Hill v. Va. State Bd. of Elections, 137 S. Ct. 788, 799 (2017), even though it ignored a host of evidence, including: a. the overwhelming majority of district lines, which were carried over unchanged from the prior map; b. the geographic location of population disparities, which imposed severe redistricting constraints and directly impacted which voters were moved into and out of the majorityminority districts; and c. the degree of constraint the House's Voting Rights Act compliance goals imposed in implementation, which was minimal.

  2. Whether the Bethune-Hill "predominance" test is satisfied merely by a lengthy description of ordinary Voting Rights Act compliance measures.

  3. Whether the district court erred in relying on expert analysis it previously rejected as unreliable and irrelevant and expert analysis that lacked any objective or coherent methodology.

  4. Whether the district court committed clear error in ignoring the entirety of the House's evidentiary presentation under the guise of credibility determinations unsupported by the record and predicated on expert testimony that should not have been credited or even admitted.

  5. Whether Virginia's choice to draw 11 "safe" majority-minority districts of around or above 55% black voting-age population ("BVAP") was narrowly tailored in light of: a. the discretion the Voting Rights Act afforded covered jurisdictions to "choose to create a certain number of 'safe' districts, in which it is highly likely that minority voters will be able to elect the candidate of their choice," Georgia v. Ashcroft, 539 U.S. 461, 480 (2003), or b. the requirement the Voting Rights Act, as amended, imposed on covered jurisdictions "to prove the absence of racially polarized voting" to justify BVAP reductions towards or below 50% BVAP, id. at 500 n.3 (Souter, J., dissenting).

  6. Whether the district court erred in ignoring the district-specific evidence before the House in 2011 justifying safe districts at or above 55% BVAP. JURISDICTION POSTPONED. IN ADDITION TO THE QUESTIONS PRESENTED BY THE JURISDICTIONAL STATEMENT, THE PARTIES ARE DIRECTED TO FULLY BRIEF THE FOLLOWING QUESTION: WHETHER APPELLANTS HAVE STANDING TO BRING THIS APPEAL. JURISDICTION POSTPONED 11/13/2018

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Paul D. Clement
Clement & Murphy, PLLC

For respondent
Marc Erik Elias
Elias Law Group LLP

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Amicus briefs
5 cert-stage

Argument & decision

Argued March 18, 2019 — Paul D. Clement · Morgan L. Ratner · Toby J. Heytens · Marc E. Elias. Audio and transcript

Decided June 17, 2019. Opinion by Ginsburg.

Proceedings

  1. Jul 19 2019
    JUDGMENT ISSUED.
  2. Jun 17 2019
    Appeal dismissed. Ginsburg, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Thomas, Sotomayor, Kagan, and Gorsuch, JJ., joined. Alito, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which Roberts, C. J., and Breyer and Kavanaugh, JJ., joined.
  3. Mar 18 2019
    Argued. For appellants: Paul D. Clement, Washington, D. C. For United States, as amicus curiae: Morgan L. Ratner, Assistant to the Solicitor General, Department of Justice, Washington, D. C. For appellees Virginia State Board of Elections, et al.: Toby J. Heytens, Solicitor General of Virginia, Richmond, Va. For appellees Golden Bethune-Hill, et al.: Marc E. Elias, Washington, D. C.
  4. Feb 28 2019
    The record received from U.S.D.C. Eastern Dist. of Virginia. (1 Envelop and 3 Boxes).
  5. Feb 27 2019
    Reply of appellants Virginia House of Delegates, et al. filed. (Distributed)
  6. Feb 21 2019
    Record requested from the U.S.D.C. Eastern Dist. of VA.
  7. Feb 19 2019
    Motion of the Solicitor General for leave to participate in oral argument as amicus curiae and for divided argument GRANTED.
  8. Feb 19 2019
    Joint motion of appellees for enlargement of time for oral argument and for divided argument GRANTED in part, and the time is divided as follows: 25 minutes for appellants, 10 minutes for the Solicitor General as amicus curiae, 10 minutes for appellees Virginia State Board of Elections, et al., and 15 minutes for appellees Golden Bethune-Hill, et al.
  9. Feb 14 2019
    CIRCULATED
  10. Feb 04 2019
    Brief amicus curiae of The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law filed.
  11. Feb 01 2019
    Motion of the Solicitor General for leave to participate in oral argument as amicus curiae and for divided argument filed.
  12. Jan 31 2019
    Joint motion for divided argument filed by appellees.
  13. Jan 29 2019
    Blanket Consent filed by appellees Bethune-Hill, et al.
  14. Jan 28 2019
    Brief of appellees Golden Bethune-Hill, et al. filed.
  15. Jan 28 2019
    Brief of State Appellees filed.
  16. Jan 25 2019
    SET FOR ARGUMENT on Monday, March 18, 2019
  17. Jan 08 2019
    Application (18A629) referred to the Court.
  18. Jan 08 2019
    Application (18A629) denied by the Court.
  19. Jan 04 2019
    Brief amicus curiae of United States in support of neither party filed.
  20. Jan 04 2019
    Brief amici curiae of Lee Chatfield, in His Official Capacity as Speaker-Elect of The Michigan House of Representatives, et al. filed.
  21. Jan 04 2019
    Brief amici curiae of American Legislative Exchange Council, et al. filed.
  22. Jan 04 2019
    Brief amicus curiae of Criminal Justice Legal Foundation filed.
  23. Dec 28 2018
    Joint appendix filed (9 volumes). (Statement of costs received)
  24. Dec 28 2018
    Brief of appellants Virginia House of Delegates, et al. filed.
  25. Dec 26 2018
    Blanket Consent filed by Petitioner, Virginia House of Delegates, et al.
  26. Dec 21 2018
    Reply of applicant Virginia House of Delegates, et al. filed.
  27. Dec 20 2018
    Response to application from respondents Virginia State Board of Elections, et al. filed.
  28. Dec 20 2018
    Response to application from respondents Golden Bethune Hill, et al. filed.
  29. Dec 14 2018
    Response to application (18A629) requested by The Chief Justice, due Thursday, December 20, 2018, by noon ET.
  30. Dec 13 2018
    Application (18A629) for a stay pending appeal, submitted to The Chief Justice.
  31. Nov 13 2018
    Further consideration of the question of jurisdiction is POSTPONED to the hearing of the case on the merits. In addition to the questions presented by the jurisdictional statement, the parties are directed to fully brief the following question: Whether appellants have standing to bring this appeal.
  32. Oct 24 2018
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 11/9/2018.
  33. Oct 23 2018
    Opposition to appellees' motions to dismiss or affirm from appellants Virginia House of Delegates, et al. filed. (Distributed)
  34. Oct 09 2018
    Motion to dismiss filed by State Appellees'.
  35. Oct 09 2018
    Motion to dismiss or affirm filed by appellees Golden Bethune-Hill, et al.
  36. Sep 04 2018
    Statement as to jurisdiction filed. (Response due October 9, 2018)