User:Ctourdot4/Shaw v. Reno/Bibliography

Proposal:

Shaw v. Reno is a supreme court case that deals with gerrymandering and the overall redistricting of voting districts. The question at the heart of this case asks whether or not race can play a factor in creating districts as a group of voters in North Carolina spoke out about this claiming that racial gerrymandering was a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. Overall, this case is very much rooted in the history of voter suppression which is one of the main reasons behind our choosing this project.

In the current political climate of our country, this case is prevalent as it deals with voting issues that still plagues the election process today. Voter suppression continues to be a big issue in elections but despite that, it is somewhat of an unspoken topic in academic learning in schools. By taking on this project, our group seeks to provide a full understanding of Shaw v. Reno and the implications of both the past and the present. And because of that, providing a more thorough background of this case is of the utmost importance to us as history is very much embedded in every aspect of this supreme court case. Historically speaking, many attempts have been made throughout history to prevent Blacks from voting in elections. In the past, the "grandfather clause" and literacy tests were a few of the many obstacles that Blacks faced as they tried to partake in their civic duty of voting. Voter suppression has taken many forms since then but we find it important to provide information on the Fourteenth Amendment(specifically the equal protection clause) as a way to help readers understand Shaw v. Reno more broadly. Furthermore, it is one of our lines of inquiry to focus on how much did the history of gerrymandering and voting played into the ruling and decision of Shaw v. Reno?

Additionally, another line of inquiry that our project is centered upon is the aftermath of this case. Our group spoke about how oftentimes we do not learn about how a supreme court case ruling impacts our country and likewise, the extent that it does. A supreme court ruling does not end a given topic of conversation but instead allows for it to continue and sometimes for other cases to emerge from that decision. And while cases are rarely overturned, it is important to know that the Supreme Court has through the years overturned cases which is important to discuss in of case. We are unsure if we will be able to find sources to help us unpack this line of inquiry but we believe that it will help us to provide a more holistic representation of Shaw v. Reno.

We intend to draw from a diverse range of sources for our research process in order to construct a wholesome Wikipedia article that shines a light on the topic in a truthful manner. To do this we will make use of sources from both academic journals and also reputable news sources to ensure that we are gaining the full picture and mitigating any biases or slants. In order to find these sources, we will employ the use of google scholar  to retrieve some peer reviewed sources, and we will also work on finding sources from outside of academic writing that is also credible to cite. Currently, there are only two references listed which do not seem to be sufficient enough at telling the whole story from a perspective that is neutral and diverse so we plan on solving this by really pulling from a wide range of sources.

The current layout of the Shaw v Reno Wikipedia page requires a great deal of work due to the fact that it only contains the summary at the beginning and then details on the case decision. In order to tell the full story, the first section we will be conducting from scratch will be a background section. This section will help to explain the political temperature of the time before the case and in turn set up some contextualization for why this case went to the courts. Another section we will be constructing from scratch is a supreme court arguments section. This section is intended to provide the arguments made in court as well as the full story of how the case was received in court. The current decision section still requires a great deal of work including more specifics and also citation updates. Lastly, we feel as though an aftermath section would be very helpful in shedding light on the importance of this case. This case is so monumental and still has relevance today regarding voter rules and regulations in America. To that end, in the aftermath section, we would include details of public reaction to the decision as well as how the decision affected voter suppression in the years following years. With all of these sections added we feel as though the Wikipedia article will adequately give the details of this case.

In terms of multimedia sources, the Wikipedia article would definitely benefit from some pictures added to the page. In specific, since this case is dealing with redistricting there are many helpful visuals such as the redistricting maps from North Carolina that would really add a lot if shown on the Wikipedia page.

Models:

Brown v. Board of Education

Dred Scott v. Sandford

Marbury v. Madison

Roe v. Wade

Plessy v. Ferguson

References:

https://www.oyez.org/cases/1992/92-357

https://www.nytimes.com/1994/12/10/us/court-accepts-a-crucial-redistricting-case.html

https://www.jstor.org/stable/420580?seq=1

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/509/630.html

https://www.britannica.com/topic/gerrymandering#ref1272381

https://roseinstitute.org/redistricting/shaw/

https://www.jstor.org/stable/420577?seq=1

https://www.nytimes.com/1993/06/29/us/the-supreme-court-excerpts-from-high-court-s-opinions-on-radial-gerrymandering.html

Table Contents:

History/Contextualization


 * Gerrymandering
 * Racial Climate
 * Voting Laws

Case Background

Arguments

Decision


 * Dissent

Aftermath