Forced Texas to draw fair redistricting lines.

Forced Texas to draw fair redistricting lines.

• A. White v Regester
• B. Scopes Monkey Trial
• C. Mendez v Westminster
• D. Sweatt v Painter

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is how courts ensure voting power is not diluted when districts are drawn. White v. Regester addresses exactly this. The Supreme Court ruled that Texas’s method of using at‑large or otherwise districting that concentrated minority voters into only a few districts (or otherwise reduced their influence) violated equal protection. Because the lines of the districts effectively weakened minority voting strength, the state was required to redraw them in a way that allowed minority voters a fairer opportunity to elect representatives of their choosing. This case helped push the use of districts designed to protect minority representation and reinforced the principle that district boundaries must not dilute voting power. These other cases deal with education and segregation, not redistricting or voting rights: the Scopes trial centers on teaching evolution in public schools, Mendez v Westminster on school segregation in California, and Sweatt v Painter on access to a university law school in Texas.

The main idea here is how courts ensure voting power is not diluted when districts are drawn. White v. Regester addresses exactly this. The Supreme Court ruled that Texas’s method of using at‑large or otherwise districting that concentrated minority voters into only a few districts (or otherwise reduced their influence) violated equal protection. Because the lines of the districts effectively weakened minority voting strength, the state was required to redraw them in a way that allowed minority voters a fairer opportunity to elect representatives of their choosing. This case helped push the use of districts designed to protect minority representation and reinforced the principle that district boundaries must not dilute voting power.

These other cases deal with education and segregation, not redistricting or voting rights: the Scopes trial centers on teaching evolution in public schools, Mendez v Westminster on school segregation in California, and Sweatt v Painter on access to a university law school in Texas.