The remarks of Madison cited by the Court are as follows: The necessity of a Genl. Far from supporting the Court, the apportionment of Representatives among the States shows how blindly the Court has marched to its decision. More recently, the Court has interpreted the corporations power (s. 51(xx)) as allowing the federal government to regulate any corporate activities, including contracts with employees, despite the deliberately limited federal power to regulate employment relations through industrial arbitration (s. 51 (xxxv)). . . Besides, the inequality of the Representation in the Legislatures of particular States would produce a like inequality in their representation in the Natl. equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment forbids . . While it may not be possible to draw congressional districts with mathematical precision, that is no excuse for ignoring our Constitution's plain objective of making equal representation for equal numbers of people the fundamental goal for the House of Representatives. Despite this careful, advertent attention to the problem of congressional districting, Art. As there stated: It was manifestly the intention of the Congress not to reenact the provision as to compactness, contiguity, and equality in population with respect to the districts to be created pursuant to the reapportionment under the Act of 1929. The provisions for apportioning Representatives and direct taxes have been amended by the Fourteenth and Sixteenth Amendments, respectively. 71 (1961). Yet, even here, the U.S. model was influential. Attorneys on behalf of the state argued that the Supreme Court lacked grounds and jurisdiction to even hear the case. . . Next, Justice Brennan found that Baker and his fellow plaintiffs had standing to sue because, the voters were alleging "facts showing disadvantage to themselves as individuals.". . . . See ante, p. 17, and infra, pp. I, 2, of the Constitution provides that Representatives are to be chosen "by the People of the several States. The complaint there charged that the State's constitutional command to apportion on the basis of the number of qualified voters had not been followed in the 1901 statute, and that the districts were so discriminatorily disparate in number of qualified voters that the plaintiffs and persons similarly situated were, "by virtue of the debasement of their votes," denied the equal protection of the laws guaranteed them by the Fourteenth Amendment. [n28][p37] He explained further that his proposal was not intended to impose a requirement on the other States, but "to enable the states to act their discretion without the control of Congress." . But if they be regulated properly by the state legislatures, the congressional control will very probably never be exercised. Suppose that Congress was entertaining a law that would unify pollution regulations across all fifty states. . 530,316236,870293,446. 30-41, the Court's opinion supports its holding only with the bland assertion that "the principle of a House of Representatives elected by the People'" would be "cast aside" if "a vote is worth more in one district than in another," ante, p. 8, i.e., if congressional districts within a State, each electing a single Representative, are not equal in population . 10. Spitzer, Elianna. 610,947350,839260,108, Louisiana(8). [I]t was thought that the regulation of time, place, and manner, of electing the representatives, should be uniform throughout the continent. No right is more precious in a free country than that of having a voice in the election of those who make the laws under which, as good citizens, we must live. 42-45. Why might a representative propose a bill knowing it will fail? . 689,555318,942370,613, Florida(12). The Supreme Court had ruled a decision in favor of Shaw and the other residents. cit. Traditionally, particularly in the South, the 1343(3), asking that the apportionment statute be declared invalid and that appellees, the Governor and Secretary of State, be enjoined from conducting elections under it. . The constitutional requirement in Art. 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.' The difference between challenges brought under the Equal Protection Clause and the Guaranty Clause is not enough to decide against existing precedent. . Smiley v. Holm presented two questions: the first, answered in the negative, was whether the provision in Art. . The other side of the compromise was that, as provided in Art. But nothing in Baker is contradictory to the view that, political question and other objections to "justiciability" aside, the Constitution vests exclusive authority to deal with the problem of this case in the state legislatures and the Congress. . All districts have roughly equal populations within states. [n29] After further discussion of districting, the proposed resolution was modified to read as follows: [Resolved] . Which of the following was a reason the framers of the Constitution created a federal system of government? 4368 (remarks of Mr. Rankin), 4369 (remarks of Mr. McLeod), 4371 (remarks of Mr. McLeod); 87 Cong.Rec. The Court states: The delegates referred to rotten borough apportionments in some of the state legislatures as the kind of objectionable governmental action that the Constitution should not tolerate in the election of congressional representatives. . I, 4, [n43]as meant to be used to vindicate the people's right to equality of representation in the House. How would this new jurisdiction best be described? at 606. 471,001350,186120,815, NorthCarolina(11). . Section 5. The majoritys decision fails to base its holding on both history and existing precedent. cit. 41.See, e.g., 2 The Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution (2d Elliot ed. MR. JUSTICE BLACK delivered the opinion of the Court. A more obvious departure was the provision that each State shall have a Representative regardless of its population. . 1983 and 1988 and 28 U.S.C. . The NBIS rating scale ranges from 0 (poorest rating) to 9 (highest rating). Which best describes Federalism as a political system? 841; 87th Cong., 1st Sess. Elections are regulated now unequally in some states, particularly South Carolina, with respect to Charleston, [p38] which is represented by thirty members. Carr in 1962, the Supreme Court determined that this sort of population disparity violated the federal constitution. [n30] The Constitution embodied Edmund Randolph's proposal for a periodic census to ensure "fair representation of the people," [n31] an idea endorsed by Mason as assuring that "numbers of inhabitants" [p14] should always be the measure of representation in the House of Representatives. The acts in question were filing false election returns, United States v. Mosley, 238 U.S. 383, alteration of ballots and false certification of votes, United States v. Classic, 313 U.S. 299, and stuffing the ballot box, United States v. Saylor, 322 U.S. 385. Mr. Justice Frankfurter's Colegrove opinion contended that Art. 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. [p24]. ThoughtCo, Aug. 28, 2020, thoughtco.com/baker-v-carr-4774789. 663,510198,236465,274, Arkansas(4). 4 & 3 & 9 & 2 \\ The decision remains significant to this day because this case had set history for the political power of urban population areas. Instead of proceeding on the merits, the court dismissed the case for lack of equity. In that case, the Court had declared re-apportionment a "political thicket." The fact is, however, that Georgia's 10 Representatives are elected "by the People" of Georgia, just as Representatives from other States are elected "by the People of the several States." This history reveals that the Court is not simply undertaking to exercise a power which the Constitution reserves to the Congress; it is also overruling congressional judgment. [n13], The question of how the legislature should be constituted precipitated the most bitter controversy of the Convention. . 1836) 11 (Fisher Ames, in the Massachusetts Convention) (hereafter cited as "Elliot"); id. . . 328 U.S. at 554. . . also Wood v. Broom, 287 U.S. 1. according to their respective Numbers." Supported by others at the Convention, [n18] and not contradicted in any respect, they indicate as clearly as may be that the Convention understood the state legislatures to have plenary power over the conduct of elections for Representatives, including the power to district well or badly, subject only to the supervisory power of Congress. [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. of the yearly value of forty shillings, and been rated and actually paid taxes to this State. . . Some delegations threatened to withdraw from the Convention if they did not get their way. . [sic] and might materially affect the appointments. . Star Athletica, L.L.C. In the Virginia convention, during the discussion of 4, Madison again stated unequivocally that he looked solely to that section to prevent unequal districting: . . Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members. . This brings us to the merits. Georgias Fifth congressional district had two to three times more voters compared to other Georgia districts. Section 5 of Article I, which provides that "Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members," also points away from the Court's conclusion. 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. 46. [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. If the Federal Constitution intends that, when qualified voters elect members of Congress, each vote be given as much weight as any other vote, then this statute cannot stand. . They brought this class action under 42 U.S.C. Why would free riding occur in Congressional politics? Since there is only one Congressman for each district, this inequality of population means that the Fifth District's Congressman has to represent from two to three times as many people as do Congressmen from some of the other Georgia districts. 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. The U.S. Supreme Court acknowledged probable. . The districts are those used in the election of the current 88th Congress. 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. Similar bills introduced in the current Congress are H.R. . 823,680272,154551,526, Idaho(2). The Court's holding that the Constitution requires States to select Representatives either by elections at large or by elections in districts composed "as nearly as is practicable" of equal population places in jeopardy the seats of almost all the members of the present House of Representatives. . at 533. The extent to which the Court departs from accepted principles of adjudication is further evidenced by the irrelevance to today's issue of the cases on which the Court relies. ." . to be a precedent for dismissal based on the nonjusticiability of a political question involving the Congress as here, but we do deem it to be strong authority for dismissal for want of equity when the following factors here involved are considered on balance: a political question involving a coordinate branch of the federal government; a political question posing a delicate problem difficult of solution without depriving others of the right to vote by district, unless we are to redistrict for the state; relief may be forthcoming from a properly apportioned state legislature, and relief may be afforded by the Congress. Potential for embarrassment for differing pronouncements of the issue by different branches of government. . There were no separate judicial or executive branches: only a Congress consisting of a single house. . In 1960, the population base was 178,559,217, and the number of Representatives was 435. . Suppose the citizens of a tri-city area need public transit to move across city lines. 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. 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. It does not permit the States to pick out certain qualified citizens or groups of citizens and deny them the right to vote at all. Justice William Brennan delivered the 6-2 decision. . While the majority is correct that congressional districting is something that courts can decide, the case should be remanded so the lower court can hold a hearing on the merits based on the standards provided in Baker v Carr. . He states: There can be no shadow of question that populations were accepted as a measure of material interests -- landed, agricultural, industrial, commercial, in short, property. 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 House of Representatives, the Convention agreed, was to represent the people as individuals, and on a basis of complete equality for each voter. With respect to apportionment of the House, Luce states: "Property was the basis, not humanity." 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. At the Massachusetts convention, Judge Dana approved 4 because it gave Congress power to prevent a state legislature from copying Great Britain, where, a borough of but two or three cottages has a right to send two representatives to Parliament, while Birmingham, a large and populous manufacturing town, lately sprung up, cannot send one. As my Brother BLACK said in his dissent in Colegrove v. Green, supra, the. Legislature, as it was presumable that the Counties having the power in the former case would secure it to themselves in the latter. 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 The Federalist, No. Id. Within seven weeks of the decision, lawsuits had been filed in 22 states asking for relief in terms of unequal apportionment standards. . The second question, which concerned two congressional apportionment measures, was whether the Act of June 18, 1929, 46 Stat. 59, Hamilton discussed the provision of 4 for regulation of elections. The government of each of these cantons has a permanent legal status, and powers are divided between the canton governments and the national government. Govt. . Smiley v. Holm, 285 U.S. 355, Koenig v. Flynn, 285 U.S. 375, and Carroll v. Becker, 285 U.S. 380, concerned the choice of Representatives in the Federal Congress. The United States Supreme Court ruled that federal courts could hear and rule on cases in which plaintiffs allege that re-apportionment plans violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. 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