Ames' remark at the Massachusetts convention is typical: "The representatives are to represent the people." [n11] It would be extraordinary to suggest that, in such statewide elections, the votes of inhabitants of some parts of a State, for example, Georgia's thinly populated Ninth District, could be weighted at two or three times the value of the votes of people living in more populous parts of the State, for example, the Fifth District around Atlanta. at 202 (Oliver Wolcott, Connecticut); 4 id. . . . 49. . 39-40. I, 4, which empowered the "Legislature" of a State to prescribe the regulations for congressional elections meant that a State could not by law provide for a Governor's veto over such regulations as had been prescribed by the legislature. Star Athletica, L.L.C. . . In the Pennsylvania convention, James Wilson described Art. This [p19] Court has so held ever since Smiley v. Holm, 285 U.S. 355 (1932), which is buttressed by two companion cases, Koenig v. Flynn, 285 U.S. 375 (1932), and Carroll v. Becker, 285 U.S. 380 (1932). The Court relies in part on Baker v. Carr, supra, to immunize its present decision from the force of Colegrove. equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment forbids . State residents could then choose the level of pollution regulation that best suits their residents. Again in Baker v. Carr, 369 U.S. 186, 232, 82 S.Ct. 539,618312,890226,728, Washington(7). . Of all the federal countries considered in our edited volume, Courts in Federal Countries: Federalists or Unitarists? Section 4. . . In answering this question, the Court was concerned to carry out the intention of Congress in enacting the 1929 Act.See id. at 606. If youre looking for levity, look no further. Which of the following is the best example of a national-level policy serving as a response to a collective-action dilemma among states? The Federalist, No. [n52] Bills which would have imposed on the States a requirement of equally or nearly equally populated districts were regularly introduced in the House. Such discriminatory legislation seems to me exactly the kind that the equal protection clause was intended to prohibit. What inference can you make? As late as 1842, seven States still conducted congressional elections at large. [n24] Seeing the controversy growing sharper and emotions rising, the wise and highly respected Benjamin Franklin arose and pleaded with the delegates on both sides to "part with some of their demands, in order that they may join in some accommodating proposition." Indeed, as one of the grounds there relied on to support our holding that state apportionment controversies are justiciable, we said: . Each time redistricting plans were drawn up in accordance with the federal census and put to a vote, they failed to get enough votes to pass. The problem was described by Mr. Justice Frankfurter as. an aspect of government from which the judiciary, in view of what is involved, has been excluded by the clear intention of the Constitution. The subject of districting within the States is discussed explicitly with reference to the provisions of Art. It is surely beyond debate that the Constitution did not require the slave States to apportion their Representatives according to the dispersion of slaves within their borders. In short, in the absence of legislation providing for equal districts by the Georgia Legislature or by Congress, these appellants have no right to the judicial relief which they seek. (University of Toronto Press 2017), the two having the most similar constitutions are, arguably, Australia and the United States. In all of the discussion surrounding the basis of representation of the House and all of the discussion whether Representatives should be elected by the legislatures or the people of the States, there is nothing which suggests [p32] even remotely that the delegates had in mind the problem of districting within a State. Also, every State was to have "at Least one Representative." [n5] After full consideration of Colegrove, the Court in Baker held (1) that the District Court had jurisdiction of the subject matter; (2) that the qualified Tennessee voters there had standing to sue; and [p6] (3) that the plaintiffs had stated a justiciable cause of action on which relief could be granted. One district, the Ninth, has only 272,154 people, less than one-third as many as the Fifth. [n39]. at 489-490 (Rufus King of Massachusetts); id. 34. Whatever the dominant political philosophy at the Convention, one thing seems clear: it is in the last degree unlikely that most or even many of the delegates would have subscribed to the [p31] principle of "one person, one vote," ante, p. 18. CLARK, J., Concurring in Part, Dissenting in Part. Wesberry v. Sanders is a landmark case because it mandated that congressional districts throughout the country must be roughly equal in population. The Federalist, No. . . 478,962376,336102,626, Michigan(19). Gibbons[p7]v. Ogden, 9 Wheat. 276, 279-280. [n48]. WebThe case of Wesberry v. Sanders in 1964 was a landmark court decision that established the principle of 'one person, one vote' in districting for the House of Representatives. The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. [n40] Further on, he said: It will not be alledged that an election law could have been framed and inserted into the Constitution which would have been always applicable to every probable change in the situation of the country, and it will therefore not be denied that a discretionary power over elections ought to exist somewhere. . In No. As a result of this 54, discussed infra pp. [n42] The requirement was later dropped, [n43] and reinstated. We have been told (with a dictatorial air) that this is the last moment for a fair trial in favor of a good Government. See, e.g., the New York Constitution of 1777, Art. . 54, at 368. Id. WebKey points. The constitutional right which the Court creates is manufactured out of whole cloth. [n20]. [State legislatures] might make an unequal and partial division of the states into districts for the election of representatives, or they might even disqualify one third of the electors. Some of them, of course, would ordinarily come from districts the populations of which were about that which would result from an apportionment based solely on population. The decision of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia is reversed and remanded. Baker, a Republican citizen of Shelby County, brought suit against the Secretary of State claiming that the state had not been redistricted since 1901 and Shelby County had more residents than rural districts. It will, I presume, be as readily conceded that there were only three ways in which this power could have been reasonably modified and disposed, that it must either have been lodged wholly in the National Legislature, or wholly in the State Legislatures, or primarily in the latter and ultimately in the former. King stated that the power of Congress under 4 was necessary to "control in this case"; otherwise, he said, The representatives . Luce points to the "quite arbitrary grant of representation proportionate to three fifths of the number of slaves" as evidence that, even in the House, "the representation of men as men" was not intended. . lie prostrate at the mercy of the legislatures of the several states." The Court's "as nearly as is practicable" formula sweeps a host of questions under the rug. . 1496. Within this scheme, the appellants do not have the right which they assert, in the absence of provision for equal districts by the Georgia Legislature or the Congress. [n2] A difference of this magnitude in the size of districts, the average population of which in each State is less than 500,000, [n3] is presumably not equality among districts "as nearly as is practicable," although the Court does not reveal its definition of that phrase. or [who] have rented a tenement . I, 2, restricted the power of the States to prescribe the conduct of elections conferred on them by Art. 110 U.S. at 663. 12(b)(6). This decision requires each state to draw its U.S. Congressional districts so that they are approximately equal in population. There is nothing to indicate any limitation whatsoever on this grant of plenary initial and supervisory power. The apportionment statute thus contracts the value of some votes and expands that of others. The U.S. Supreme Court reversed and remanded the case, holding that congressional districts should have equal population to the extent possible. a. Construct the appropriate control chart and determine the LCL and UCL. at 367 (James Madison, Virginia). ThoughtCo. 691, 718, 7 L.Ed.2d 663 (1962), the opinion of the Court recognized that Smiley 'settled the issue in favor of justiciability of questions of congressional redistricting.' II Elliot's Debates on the Federal Constitution (2d ed. 735; Act of Jan. 16, 1901, 3, 31 Stat. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/baker-v-carr-4774789. Georgias Fifth congressional district had a population that was two to three times greater than the populations of other Georgia districts, yet each district had one representative. b. . Since then, despite repeated efforts to obtain congressional action again, Congress has continued to leave the problem and its solution to the States. It was to be the grand depository of the democratic principle of the Govt. . There are no textually demonstrable commitments present regarding equal protection issues by other branches of government. As will be shown, these constitutional provisions and their "historical context," ante, p. 7, establish: 1. that congressional Representatives are to be apportioned among the several States largely, but not entirely, according to population; 2. that the States have plenary power to select their allotted Representatives in accordance with any method of popular election they please, subject only to the supervisory power of Congress; and, 3. that the supervisory power of Congress is exclusive. . Baker's suit detailed how Tennessee's reapportionment efforts ignored significant economic growth The stability of this institution ultimately depends not only upon its being alert to keep the other branches of government within constitutional bounds, but equally upon recognition of the limitations on the Court's own functions in the constitutional system. Neither of the numbers of The Federalist from which the Court quotes, ante, pp. to be worth as much as another's," ante, p. 8. Some states might regulate the elections on the principles of equality, and others might regulate them otherwise. . at 257 (Charles Pinckney, South Carolina). 841; 87th Cong., 1st Sess. cit. Id. Farsighted men felt that a closer union was necessary if the States were to be saved from foreign and domestic dangers. Unfortunately I can join neither the opinion of the Court nor the dissent of my Brother HARLAN. A property or taxpaying qualification was in effect almost everywhere. I, 2, for election of Representatives "by the People" means that congressional districts are to be, "as nearly as is practicable," equal in population, ante, pp. I, 4, which the Court so pointedly neglects. 5. Section 4 states without qualification that the state legislatures shall prescribe regulations for the conduct of elections for Representatives and, equally without qualification, that Congress may make or [p30] alter such regulations. Appellants are qualified voters in Georgia's Fifth Congressional District, the population of which is two to three times greater than that of some other congressional districts in the State. . It is not an exaggeration to say that such is the effect of today's decision. 506,854378,499128,355, Montana(2). . . WebBaker v. Carr, (1962), U.S. Supreme Court case that forced the Tennessee legislature to reapportion itself on the basis of population. Today, permanent parliamentary Boundary Commissions recommend periodic changes in the size of constituencies as population shifts. that the States being equal cannot treat or confederate so as to give up an equality of votes without giving up their liberty; that the propositions on the table were a system of slavery for 10 States; that as Va. Masts. The district court dismissed the complaint for non-justiciability and want In 1901, Tennessee's population totaled just 2,020,616 and only 487,380 residents were eligible to vote. We do not deem [Colegrove v. Green] . Baker petitioned to the Supreme Court of the United States. . Wesberry, a voter of the 5 th District of Georgia, filed suit on the basis that his Congressional district had a population 2-3 times larger than other districts in the State, thereby debasing his vote. 15, 18, fairly supports its holding. What is the most valid criticism of this study? at 357. . that the population of the Fifth District is grossly out of balance with that of the other nine congressional districts of Georgia, and, in fact, so much so that the removal of DeKalb and Rockdale Counties from the District, leaving only Fulton with a population of 556,326, would leave it exceeding the average by slightly more than forty percent. Australian justices have insisted that the commerce regulated under the interstate trade and commerce power really have an interstate character. Baker v. Carr outlined that legislative apportionment is a justiciable non-political question. . [n1] In all but five of those States, the difference between [p21] the populations of the largest and smallest districts exceeded 100,000 persons. In the absence of a reapportionment, all the Representatives from a State found to have violated the standard would presumably have to be elected at large. . . Spitzer, Elianna. . WESBERRY v. SANDERS 376 U.S. 1 (1964) After baker v. carr (1962) held that legislative districting presented a justiciable controversy, the Supreme Court held in Wesberry, 81, that a state's congressional districts are required by Article I, section 2, of the Constitution to be as equal in population as is practicable. Powers not specifically delegated to the federal government are reserved for the states. In the North Carolina convention, again during discussion of 4, Mr. Steele pointed out that the state legislatures had the initial power to regulate elections, and that the North Carolina legislature would regulate the first election at least "as they think proper." While "free Persons" and those "bound to Service for a Term of Years" were counted in determining representation, Indians not taxed were not counted, and "three fifths of all other Persons" (slaves) were included in computing the States' populations. 13, 14. Justice Felix Frankfurter dissented, joined by Justice John Marshall Harlan. I, 2. By contrast, what might be the main advantage of leaving this legislation at the state level? [n33] (The particular possibilities that Steele had in mind were apparently that Congress might attempt to prescribe the qualifications for electors or "to make the place of elections inconvenient." Like its American counterpart, Australias constitution is initially divided into distinct chapters dealing with the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. The average population of the ten districts is 394,312, less than half that of the Fifth. Mr. Justice Rutledge, in Colgerove, believed that the Court should exercise its equitable discretion to refuse relief because. 45. Justice Brennan drew a line between "political questions" and "justiciable questions" by defining the former. It was found impossible to fix the time, place, and manner, of the election of representatives in the Constitution. . . Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons. (d) Any Representative elected to the Congress from a district which does not conform to the requirements set forth in subsection (c) of this section shall be denied his seat in the House of Representatives and the Clerk of the House shall refuse his credentials. I, 2, is concerned, the disqualification would be within Georgia's power. . 3 The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787 (Farrand ed.1911) 14 (hereafter cited as "Farrand"). In 1960, the federal census revealed that the state's population had grown by more than a million, totaling 3,567,089, and its voting population had swelled to 2,092,891. 610,947350,839260,108, Louisiana(8). . d. Reporters were given less access to cover combat. 54, Madison said: It is a fundamental principle of the proposed Constitution that, as the aggregate number of representatives allotted to the several States is to be determined by a federal rule founded on the aggregate number of inhabitants, so the right of choosing this allotted number in each State is to be exercised by such part of the inhabitants as the State itself may designate. Switzerland consists of 26 cantons. [n15] Moreover, the statements approving population-based representation were focused on the problem of how representation should be apportioned among the States in the House of Representatives. 17 Law & Contemp.Prob. 7-8. Indeed, most of them interpreted democracy as mob rule, and assumed that equality of representation would permit the spokesmen for the common man to outvote the beleaguered deputies of the uncommon man. . Pp. . The complaint also fails to adequately show Tennessees current system of apportionment is so arbitrary and capricious as to violate the Equal Protection Clause. The voters alleged that the apportionment scheme violated several provisions of the Constitution, including Art I, sec 2. and the Fourteenth Amendment. at 21 (William Richardson Davie, North Carolina); id. . Some delegates opposed election by the people. [n41]. ." WebCarr (1962) and Wesberry v. Sanders (1964) established that the states were required to conduct redistricting in order to make that the districts had approximately equal populations. . [n20] A number of delegates supported this plan. The Fifth district voters sued the Governor and Secretary of State of Georgia, seeking a declaration that Georgias 1931 apportionment statute was invalid, and that the State should be enjoined from conducting elections under the statute. 374 U.S. 802. 111, 85th Cong., 1st Sess. I, sec. Given these similarities, with certain important differences, the way the two constitutions have been interpreted by the courts offers an interesting study in the influence of textual language, structural relationships, historical intentions, and political values on constitutional interpretation generally. [n29] After further discussion of districting, the proposed resolution was modified to read as follows: [Resolved] . Since no slave voted, the inclusion of three-fifths of their number in the basis of apportionment gave the favored States representation far in excess of their voting population. 287 U.S. at 7. The question was up, and considered. Our Constitution leaves no room for classification of people in a way that unnecessarily abridges [p18] this right. . 51. Despite the apparent fear that 4 would be abused, no one suggested that it could safely be deleted because 2 made it unnecessary. . [n4] Thus, today's decision impugns the validity of the election of 398 Representatives from 37 States, leaving a "constitutional" House of 37 members now sitting. 2648, 82d Cong., 1st Sess. In a later separate opinion, he emphasized that his vote in Colergove had been based on the "particular circumstances" of that case. VII, which restricted the vote to freeholders. William Samuel Johnson of Connecticut had summed it up well: "in one branch, the people ought to be represented; in the other, the States." The districts are those used in the election of the current 88th Congress. 471,001350,186120,815, NorthCarolina(11). Besides, the inequality of the Representation in the Legislatures of particular States would produce a like inequality in their representation in the Natl. ; H.R. Since Baker is an individual bringing suit against the state government, no separation of power concerns result. Are there any special causes of variation ? Although it was held in Ex parte Yarbrough, 110 U.S. 651, and subsequent cases, that the right to vote for a member of Congress depends on the Constitution, the opinion noted that the legislatures of the States prescribe the qualifications for electors of the legislatures and thereby for electors of the House of Representatives. I, 2, of the Constitution gives no mandate to this Court or to any court to ordain that congressional districts within each State must be equal in population. 4054. 73, 86th Cong., 1st Sess. 761. 6-7. . . People doubt her as a female roofer: Were proving them wrong every day, She rescues baby squirrels: Theyre quite destructive. 7-8, 18. In every State, a certain proportion of inhabitants are deprived of this right by the Constitution of the State, who will be included in the census by which the Federal Constitution apportions the representatives. The Supreme Court had ruled a decision in favor of Shaw and the other residents. Baker v. Carr, supra, considered a challenge to a 1901 Tennessee statute providing for apportionment of State Representatives and Senators under the State's constitution, which called for apportionment among counties or districts "according to the number of qualified voters in each." The Australian Constitution guarantees freedom of religion and prohibits any establishment of religion in terms very similar to the U.S. First Amendment. The cases of Baker v. Carr (1962) and Wesberry v. Sanders (1964) established that all electoral districts of state legislatures and the United States House of Representatives must be equal in size by population within state. . In addition, the majoritys analysis is clouded by too many indirect issues to focus on the real issue at hand. at 374. . The provision for representation of each State in the House of Representatives is not a mere exception to the principle framed by the majority; it shows that no such principle is to be found. Again, in Baker v. Carr, 369 U.S. 186, 232 (1962), the opinion of the Court recognized that Smiley "settled the issue in favor of justiciability of questions of congressional redistricting." 588,933301,872287,061, Colorado(4). 11725, 70th Cong., 1st Sess., introduced on Mar. . . A district court panel declined to hear the case, finding that it could not rule on "political" matters like redistricting and apportionment. The companion cases to Smiley v. Holm presented no different issues, and were decided wholly on the basis of the decision in that case. Elected politicians are the real locus of executive power. 1983 and 1988 and 28 U.S.C. at 532 (Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts). Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members. 459,706399,78259,924, SouthCarolina(6). . according to their respective Numbers." I think it is established that "this Court has power to afford relief in a case of this type as against the objection that the issues are not justiciable," [*] and I cannot subscribe to any possible implication to the contrary which [p51] may lurk in MR. JUSTICE HARLAN's dissenting opinion. Cf. [n24], In the New York convention, during the discussion of 4, Mr. Jones objected to congressional power to regulate elections because such power, might be so construed as to deprive the states of an essential right, which, in the true design of the Constitution, was to be reserved to them. Is a mandate for health insurance sufficiently related to interstate commerce for Congress to enact a law on it? ; H.R. . Tennessee claimed that redistricting was a political question and could not be decided by the courts under the Constitution. As my Brother BLACK said in his dissent in Colegrove v. Green, supra, the. There were no separate judicial or executive branches: only a Congress consisting of a single house. ; H.R. at 467 (Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts); id. (Emphasis added.) no one district electing more than one Representative. Legislature, as it was presumable that the Counties having the power in the former case would secure it to themselves in the latter. How to redraw districts was a "political" question rather than a judicial one, and should be up to state governments, the attorneys explained. . Cook v. Fortson, 329 U.S. 675, 678. discrimination. [n8] Although many, perhaps most, of them also believed generally -- but assuredly not in the precise, formalistic way of the majority of the Court [n9] -- that, within the States, representation should be based on population, they did not surreptitiously slip their belief into the Constitution in the phrase "by the People," to be discovered 175 years later like a Shakespearian anagram. . Section 2 was not mentioned. The majoritys decision fails to base its holding on both history and existing precedent. 482,872375,475107,397, Mississippi(5). See infra, pp. 1081 (remarks of Mr. Moser). Not only can this right to vote not be denied outright, it cannot, consistently with Article I, be destroyed by alteration of ballots, see United States v. Classic, 313 U.S. 299, or diluted by stuffing of the ballot box, see United States v. Saylor, 322 U.S. 385. The fact that the delegates were able to agree on a Senate composed entirely without regard to population and on the departures from a population-based House, mentioned in note 8, supra, indicates that they recognized the possibility that alternative principles, combined with political reality, might dictate conclusions inconsistent with an abstract principle of absolute numerical equality. I, 4, is the exclusive remedy. During the Revolutionary War, the rebelling colonies were loosely allied in the Continental Congress, a body with authority to do little more than pass resolutions and issue requests for men and supplies. For the year 2020, the engineers forecast that 9%9 \%9% of all major Denver bridges will have ratings of 4 or below. [n36] Section 2 was not mentioned. 1896) 15. . Soon after the Constitution was adopted, James Wilson of Pennsylvania, by then an Associate Justice of this Court, gave a series of lectures at Philadelphia in which, drawing on his experience as one of the most active members of the Constitutional Convention, he said: [A]ll elections ought to be equal. A more obvious departure was the provision that each State shall have a Representative regardless of its population. Other rights, even the most basic, are illusory if the right to vote is undermined. 2 of the Constitution, which states that Representatives be chosen by the People of the several States. Allowing for huge disparities in population between districts would violate that fundamental principle. . A complaint alleging debasement of the right to vote as a result of a state congressional apportionment law is not subject to [p2] dismissal for "want of equity" as raising a wholly "political" question. What danger could there be in giving a controuling power to the Natl. . . Similar bills introduced in the current Congress are H.R. PS-110 Chp. The one thing that one person, one vote decisions could not effect was the use of gerrymandering. the Constitution has already given decision making power to a specific political department. In this point of view, the southern States might retort the complaint by insisting, that the principle laid down by the Convention required that no regard should be had to the policy of particular States towards their own inhabitants, and consequently that the slaves as inhabitants should have been admitted into he census according to their full number, in like manner with other inhabitants, who, by the policy of other States, are not admitted to all the rights of citizens. 4: Civil Rights And Liberties, The Constitution- Political Science Chpt. I, 2. . Some delegations threatened to withdraw from the Convention if they did not get their way. 552,582278,703273,879, Indiana(11). It is in the light of such history that we must construe Art. . WebWesberry v. Sanders, 376 U.S. 1 (1964), was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case in which the Court ruled that districts in the United States House of Representatives must be Concerns result country must be roughly equal in population also fails to adequately show Tennessees current system of apportionment a. So pointedly neglects the power of the United States. be similarities between baker v carr and wesberry v sanders as much as another 's, ante... Have `` at Least one Representative. powers not specifically delegated to the Federal are! Decision of the current Congress are H.R its population be within Georgia 's.. Favor of Shaw and the other residents its own Members terms very similar to the U.S. First Amendment Liberties. Believed that the equal protection clause was intended to prohibit which the Court quotes, ante, p. 8 and... 2, restricted the power in the latter the use of gerrymandering Part on v.. 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