SCOTUS rules in Thornburg v. Gingles that racial vote dilution through multimember districts violates Section 2 of VRA

The Supreme Court rules unanimously in Thornburg v. Gingles that North Carolina's use of multimember legislative districts dilutes Black voting power in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act as amended in 1982. Justice William Brennan writes the majority opinion establishing a three-part test, now the "Gingles test," for evaluating vote dilution claims under Section 2. The decision becomes the foundational standard for racial gerrymandering litigation under the VRA for the next four decades.