BLACKMUN, J., Concurring Opinion

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

489 U.S. 688

Board of Estimate of City of New York v. Morris

APPEAL FROM UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT

JUSTICE BLACKMUN, concurring in part and concurring in the judgment.

I, too, would affirm the judgment below, and share many of the Court's reasons for doing so. [p704]

I agree with the majority that measuring the degree of voter inequality in these cases requires inclusion of the at-large members of the Board of Estimate. I also suspect the Court is correct in rejecting the Banzhaf Index here. But, as the Court itself notes, ante at 698, under the Index the deviation from voter equality measures 30.8% for nonbudget matters, and a still larger figure for budget issues. Even this measure of voter inequality is too large to be constitutional and, for the reasons given by the District Court, 647 F.Supp. 1463 (EDNY 1986), cannot be justified by the interests asserted by the city.