Lucious Abrams, Jr., G. L. Avery, William Gary Chambers, Sr., and Karen Watson v. Davida Johnson et al.

Decided June 19, 1997. Anthony McLeod Kennedy delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 95-1425 · 521 U.S. 74 (1997) · Cited 233 times

Holding

The District Court’s redistricting plan is not unconstitutional.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 5–4.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Upham v. Seamon · 456 U.S. 37 (1982)
• Miller v. Johnson · 515 U.S. 900 (1995)
• Thornburg v. Gingles · 478 U.S. 30 (1986)
• Bush v. Vera · 517 U.S. 952 (1996)
• Karcher v. Daggett · 462 U.S. 725 (1983)
• Shaw v. Reno · 509 U.S. 630 (1993)
• White v. Weiser · 412 U.S. 783 (1973)
• Chapman v. Meier · 420 U.S. 1 (1975)
• Reynolds v. Sims · 377 U.S. 533 (1964)
• McDaniel v. Sanchez · 452 U.S. 130 (1981)
• Gomillion v. Lightfoot · 364 U.S. 339 (1960)
• Wygant v. Jackson Board of Education · 476 U.S. 267 (1986)
• White v. Regester · 412 U.S. 755 (1973)
• Growe v. Emison · 507 U.S. 25 (1993)
• Shaw v. Hunt · 517 U.S. 899 (1996)
• Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Pena · 515 U.S. 200 (1995)
• Wesberry v. Sanders · 376 U.S. 1 (1964)
• City of Richmond v. J. A. Croson Co. · 488 U.S. 469 (1989)
• Johnson v. De Grandy · 512 U.S. 997 (1994)
• Gray v. Sanders · 372 U.S. 368 (1963)
• Rogers v. Lodge · 458 U.S. 613 (1982)
• Kirkpatrick v. Preisler · 394 U.S. 526 (1969)
• Colegrove v. Green · 328 U.S. 549 (1946)
• Voinovich v. Quilter · 507 U.S. 146 (1993)
• Connor v. Finch · 431 U.S. 407 (1977)
• East Carroll Parish School Board v. Marshall · 424 U.S. 636 (1976)
• Beer v. United States · 425 U.S. 130 (1976)
• Holder v. Hall · 512 U.S. 874 (1994)
• Reno v. Bossier Parish School Board · 520 U.S. 471 (1997)
• Connor v. Johnson · 402 U.S. 690 (1971)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry · 548 U.S. 399 (2006)
• District of Columbia v. Heller · 554 U.S. 570 (2008)
• Branch v. Smith · 538 U.S. 254 (2003)
• Allen v. Milligan · 599 U.S. 1 (2023)
• Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee · 594 U.S. 647 (2021)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1997). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).