Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Appeals

On May 20, 1996, the U.S. Supreme Court announced without comment that it had decided to hear the appeals arising from a three-judge federal district court's decisions in congressional and state legislative reapportionment cases in Georgia. In each case, the court had declared that the General Assembly had drawn some districts with the specific intent of increasing black representation, and thus had acted unconstitutionally on the basis of race. After the General Assembly subsequently was unable to agree on new districts, the federal court stepped in and devised reapportionment plans for both congressional and state legislative districts.

After the lower court's rulings, the U.S. Justice Department and several black voters appealed to the Supreme Court. In February 1996, the high court refused to stop or delay congressional elections based on the lower court's reapportionment plan. On May 20, however, the court announced that "probable jurisdiction is noted" and agreed to hear the appeals next term. The court has decided to consolidate the cases of Abrams et al. v. Johnson et al. (95-1425) and U.S. v. Johnson et al. (95-1460) and to allow a total of one hour for oral argument.

Because congressional and state primaries will be held July 9, 1996, the court's decision to hear the appeals does not affect this year's congressional or General Assembly elections. However, it does raise the possibility that Georgia will face yet additional reapportionment before the 1998 elections.

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