Thomas, J., dissenting
regime or the text’s disclaimer of a right to proportional representation. 594 U. S., at ___, and n. 14 (slip op., at 22, and n. 14).
There is yet another compelling reason to insist on a race-neutral benchmark. “The Constitution abhors classifications based on race.” Grutter v. Bollinger, 539 U. S. 306, 353 (2003) (Thomas, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part). Redistricting is no exception. “Just as the State may not, absent extraordinary justification, segregate citizens on the basis of race in its public parks, buses, golf courses, beaches, and schools,” the State also “may not separate its citizens into different voting districts on the basis of race.” Miller v. Johnson, 515 U. S. 900, 911 (1995) (citations omitted). “[D]istricting maps that sort voters on the basis of race ‘ “are by their very nature odious.” ’ ” Wisconsin Legislature v. Wisconsin Elections Comm’n, 595 U. S. ___, ___ (2022) (per curiam) (slip op., at 2) (quoting Shaw v. Reno, 509 U. S. 630, 643 (1993) (Shaw I)). Accordingly, our precedents apply strict scrutiny whenever race was “the predominant factor motivating [the placement of] a significant number of voters within or without a particular district,” Miller, 515 U. S., at 916, or, put another way, whenever “[r]ace was the criterion that … could not be compromised” in a district’s formation. Shaw v. Hunt, 517 U. S. 899, 907 (1996) (Shaw II).
Because “[r]acial gerrymandering, even for remedial purposes, may balkanize us into competing racial factions” and undermine “the goal of a political system in which race no longer matters,” Shaw I, 509 U. S., at 657, our cases have long recognized the need to interpret §2 to avoid “unnecessarily infus[ing] race into virtually every redistricting” plan. LULAC, 548 U. S., at 446 (opinion of Kennedy, J.); accord, Bartlett v. Strickland, 556 U. S. 1, 21 (2009) (plurality opinion). Plainly, however, that “infusion” is the inevitable result of any race-based benchmark. Any interpretation of §2 that permits courts to condemn enacted
