Federal court orders Virginia to draw new district lines News
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Federal court orders Virginia to draw new district lines

A three-judge federal panel ruled [opinion, PDF] 2-1 on Tuesday that the Virginia General Assembly [official website] violated the Equal Protection Clause by engaging in racial gerrymandering.

The plaintiffs alleged that the General Assembly “predominantly relied on race” when drawing up 12 majority African-American voting districts for the 2011 election. The US Supreme Court previously upheld the voting plan for one district but remanded the constitutionality of the plan as it related to the other 11 districts.

The court found that for the other 11 districts, “race predominated over traditional districting factors.” The redistricting plan was not “narrowly tailored to achieve [a] compelling state interest” under the strict scrutiny test used for racial discrimination.

The court ordered that the General Assembly redraw the voting districts by October 30.

Redistricting has been an issue in many states. On Monday the Supreme Court ruled [JURIST report] that all but one Texas district were not racially gerrymandered. Last week the Supreme Court avoided [JURIST report] issues on the merits of redistricting cases in Wisconsin and Maryland. In May Ohio voters approved [JURIST report] a new bipartisan redistricting process.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Congress passed legislation establishing post-WWII national security structure

On July 25, 1947, the National Security Act of 1947 was passed, establishing a linkage between the military and national security, and setting up the National Security Council (NSC), the CIA, the Department of Defense, and several other new agencies, including the National Military Establishment with three separate departments (the Army, the Navy and the new US Air Force), and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Learn more about the National Security Act of 1947.

Brunswick Manifesto proclaimed

On July 25, 1792, the Brunswick Manifesto was proclaimed by Charles William Ferdinand, the Duke of Brunswick during the French Revolutionary Wars. As leader of the forces allied against France, Ferdinand promised retribution against the citizens of Paris if the French Royal Family was harmed. Instead, the Manifesto further inflamed anti-royal sentiment in Paris.