A Federal Court this week outlawed a mostly Hispanic district in
New York City, saying the district was unconstitutional because
race and ethnicity were the dominant factors used to draw it. The
ruling by a three judge panel in Brooklyn comes in the wake of a
landmark 1994 Supreme Court decision that said minority districts
amounted to a form of "political apartheid" and violated the rights
of white voters.
African-American, Asian-American and Latino legislators — who are
already under-represented in most elected forums throughout the
United States — denounced the ruling as a blow to representative
democracy. Congress member Nydia Velazquez, whose district was the
subject of the ruling, is the 10th Congressional lawmaker to face
redistricting since 1994.
TAPE: REPRESENTATIVE NYDIA M. VELAZQUEZ, of the 12th District in
New York City.
