"KETCHUM V. BYRNE": THE HARD LESSONS OF DISCRIMINATORY REDISTRICTING IN CHICAGO

Attorneys Jeffrey D. Colman and Michael T. Brody represented plaintiffs challenging the 1981 redistricting of the city of Chicago. In their article, they address the social and political consequences of that case, as well as the Seventh Circuit's analysis of the proper remedy for dilution of minority voting strength. They conclude that the Seventh Circuit's treatment of remedial issues was sidetracked by the failure of the district court to define correctly the scope of the voting rights violation. Applied to the violation found by the district court, the Seventh Circuit's remedy may have gone too far; applied to the violation actually committed by the City Council, however, the Seventh Circuit's remedy was correct.