In the 1974 case of White, Secretary of State of Texas, et al. v. Regester et al., the U.S Supreme Court upheld a lower court's decision that certain multi-member districts in Texas violated the Voting Rights Act by diluting minority voting strength. The plaintiffs were African American and Mexican American residents who claimed their votes had been diluted due to racial discrimination in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause and Fifteenth Amendment’s right to vote regardless of race or color. The Supreme Court ruled that while multi-member districts are not unconstitutional per se, they can be challenged on a case-by-case basis if it can be proven that there is intentional discrimination against an identifiable political group which has less opportunity than did other residents in the district to participate in the political processes and elect legislators of their choice.

In the dissenting opinion for White, Secretary of State of Texas, et al. v. Regester et al., Justice Powell argued that the majority's decision was a departure from established precedent and could lead to unnecessary judicial intervention in state legislative apportionment decisions. He contended that there was no evidence showing intentional discrimination by Texas legislators against racial or political groups when drawing district lines. Furthermore, he believed it was not enough to show mere disparities in representation but rather plaintiffs must prove an actual discriminatory purpose behind these disparities - something which he felt had not been sufficiently demonstrated in this case. Lastly, Powell expressed concern about the potential implications of this ruling on future redistricting cases and warned against courts becoming overly involved in what should be primarily a legislative process.