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Miller V. Johnson: Drawing The Line On Racial Gerrymandering, Darin R. Doak

Northern Illinois University Law Review

By rejecting the Georgia State Legislature's attempt to redraw its political districts to ensure election of black representatives, the Supreme Court in Miller v. Johnson exposed a fallacy that served as the foundation for eighteenth-, nineteenth-, and twentieth-century barriers to minority franchise rights: the idea that minority groups act and vote similarly. Treading lightly through the political thicket of redistricting, the Miller Court eliminated this threat by prohibiting political districts drawn with substantial reliance upon race. This article discusses the merits of the Miller decision and its place in the evolution of minority voting rights. The article also suggests that …

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Protecting Rights And Promoting Democracy: Judicial Review Under Section 1 Of The Charter, Martha Jackman

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

The author argues that, under section 1 of the Charter, the courts must weigh carefully the democratic potential of rights guarantees against the democratic quality of government decisions which undermine those rights. The article points to the Egan and Eldridge cases as examples of decisions in which the willingness to uphold rights violations under section 1, in the name of deference to the legislature, actually undermines democratic values. The article examines the RIR-MacDonald decision as a starting point for a section 1 analysis which identifies the characteristics of government decisionmaking that must be present if rights violations are to be …

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