WHITE, J., Dissenting Opinion

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

429 U.S. 252

Village of Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan

CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SEVENTH CIRCUIT

MR. JUSTICE WHITE, dissenting.

The Court reverses the judgment of the Court of Appeals because it finds, after reexamination of the evidence supporting the concurrent findings below, that

[r]espondents . . . failed to carry their burden of proving that discriminatory purpose was a motivating factor in the Village's decision.

Ante at 270. The Court reaches this result by interpreting our decision in Washington v. Davis, 426 U.S. 229 (1976), and applying it to this case, notwithstanding that the Court of Appeals rendered its decision in this case before Washington v. Davis was handed down, and thus did not have the benefit of our decision when it found a Fourteenth Amendment violation.

The Court gives no reason for its failure to follow our usual practice in this situation of vacating the judgment below and remanding in order to permit the lower court to reconsider its ruling in light of our intervening decision. The Court's articulation of a legal standard nowhere mentioned in Davis indicates that it feels that the application of Davis to these facts calls for substantial analysis. If this is true, we would do better to allow the Court of Appeals to attempt that analysis in the first instance. Given that the Court deems it necessary to reexamine the evidence in the case in light of the legal standard it adopts, a remand is especially appropriate. As the cases relied upon by the Court indicate, the primary function of this Court is not to review the evidence supporting findings of the lower courts. See, e.g., Wright v. Rockefeller, 376 U.S. 52, 56-57 (1964); Akins v. Texas, 325 U.S. 398, 402 (1945). [p273] A further justification for remanding on the constitutional issue is that a remand is required in any event on respondents' Fair Housing Act claim, 42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq., not yet addressed by the Court of Appeals. While conceding that a remand is necessary because of the Court of Appeals' "unorthodox" approach of deciding the constitutional issue without reaching the statutory claim, ante at 271, the Court refuses to allow the Court of Appeals to reconsider its constitutional holding in light of Davis should it become necessary to reach that issue.

Even if I were convinced that it was proper for the Court to reverse the judgment below on the basis of an intervening decision of this Court and after a reexamination of concurrent findings of fact below, I believe it is wholly unnecessary for the Court to embark on a lengthy discussion of the standard for proving the racially discriminatory purpose required by Davis for a Fourteenth Amendment violation. The District Court found that the Village was motivated "by a legitimate desire to protect property values and the integrity of the Village's zoning plan." The Court of Appeals accepted this finding as not clearly erroneous, and the Court quite properly refuses to overturn it on review here. There is thus no need for this Court to list various "evidentiary sources" or "subjects of proper inquiry" in determining whether a racially discriminatory purpose existed.

I would vacate the judgment of the Court of Appeals and remand the case for consideration of the statutory issue and, if necessary, for consideration of the constitutional issue in light of Washington v. Davis.