The Federalist, No. ." [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. redistricting, violates the 8266, 86th Cong., 1st Sess. I, 4. . . . 1983 and 1988 and 28 U.S.C. Whether the electors should vote by ballot or viva voce, should assemble at this place or that place, should be divided into districts or all meet at one place, shd all vote for all the representatives, or all in a district vote for a number allotted to the district, these & many other points would depend on the Legislatures. I, 2, of the Constitution of the United States, which provides that "The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States . [n15], Repeatedly, delegates rose to make the same point: that it would be unfair, unjust, and contrary to common sense to give a small number of people as many Senators or Representatives as were allowed to much larger groups [n16] -- in short, as James Wilson of Pennsylvania [p11] put it, "equal numbers of people ought to have an equal no. . 333,290299,15634,134, Ohio(24). II, 1. In addition, Connecticut, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio, and Texas each elected one of their Representatives at large. . In the South Carolina Convention, Pinckney stated that the House would "be so chosen as to represent in due proportion the people of the Union. . The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment does not suggest legislatures must intentionally structure their districts to reflect absolute equality of votes. Once it is clear that there is no constitutional right at stake, that ends the case. Now, he has a new philosophy on life. See Paschal, "The House of Representatives: Grand Depository of the Democratic Principle'?" 510,512342,540167,972, WestVirginia(5). . In deciding whether this law is constitutional, which of the following issues are the courts likely to consider most important? . Baker v. Carr was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case in the year 1962. [p49]. The delegates were well aware of the problem of "rotten boroughs," as material cited by the Court, ante pp. Should the people of any state by any means be deprived of the right of suffrage, it was judged proper that it should be remedied by the general government. at 21 (William Richardson Davie, North Carolina); id. 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. Most importantly, the history of how the House of Representatives came into being demonstrates that the founders wanted to ensure that each person had an equal voice in the political process in the House of Representatives. 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. 4 & 3 & 9 & 2 \\ 374 U.S. 802. 552,582278,703273,879, Indiana(11). Definition and Examples, Shaw v. Reno: Supreme Court Case, Arguments, Impact, Obergefell v. Hodges: Supreme Court Case, Arguments, Impacts, Katzenbach v. Morgan: Supreme Court Case, Arguments, Impact, Washington v. Davis: Supreme Court Case, Arguments, Impact, Bolling v. Sharpe: Supreme Court Case, Arguments, Impact, Romer v. Evans: Supreme Court Case, Arguments, Impact, Browder v. Gayle: Court Case, Arguments, Impact. . The Court issued its ruling on February 17, 1964. The Court issued its ruling on February 17, 1964. 2 The Works of James Wilson (Andrews ed. . [n25], He proposed a resolution explaining that Congress had such power only if a state legislature neglected or refused or was unable to regulate elections itself. In New York City, a single executive is popularly elected and he or she appoints officials in charge of various departments. Were they exclusively under the control of the state governments, the general government might easily be dissolved. at 663. This insistence on the equality of the states, combined with a desire to create a federal government that would represent the people of the federation as a whole, meant that in both countries the federal legislature consists of a House of Representatives and a Senate. (We thank the government of Qubec and Forum of Federations for financial and logistical support in producing this book.). 331,818275,10356,715, NewJersey(15). 6428, 83d Cong., 1st Sess. Gibbons[p7]v. Ogden, 9 Wheat. 735; Act of Jan. 16, 1901, 3, 31 Stat. Elected politicians are the real locus of executive power. 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.' . If Congress failed in exercising its powers, whereby standards of fairness are offended, the remedy ultimately lies with the people. Mr. Justice Frankfurter's Colegrove opinion contended that Art. The remarks of Madison cited by the Court are as follows: The necessity of a Genl. [n34]) Steele was concerned with the danger of congressional usurpation, under the authority of 4, of power belonging to the States. The Australian federation, like the American, was formed through an agreement among delegates of distinct, self-governing states. If youre looking for levity, look no further. The States which ratified the Constitution exercised their power. [n23], The dispute came near ending the Convention without a Constitution. . New Jersey apparently allowed women, as "inhabitants," to vote until 1807. Quite obviously, therefore, Smiley v. Holm does not stand for the proposition which my Brother CLARK derives from it. [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. In this manner, the proportion of the representatives and of the constituents will remain invariably the same. His PhD took 53 years. . This means that federal courts have the authority to hear apportionment cases when plaintiffs allege deprivation of fundamental liberties. In some of the States, the difference is very material. 37. I, 2, members of the House of Representatives should be chosen "by the People of the several States," and should be "apportioned among the several States . 53. 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. supra, 49-54. . The only State in which the average population per district is greater than 500,000 is Connecticut, where the average population per district is 507,047 (one Representative being elected at large). 54, he discussed the inclusion of slaves in the basis of apportionment. the Constitution has conferred upon Congress exclusive authority to secure fair representation by the States in the popular House. However, in my view, Brother HARLAN has clearly demonstrated that both the historical background and language preclude a finding that Art. . 11725, 70th Cong., 1st Sess., introduced on Mar. 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. . 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. . [n6][p25]. . 1896) 15. . IV Elliot's Debates 257. U.S. Bureau of the Census, Census of Population: 1960 (hereafter, Census), xiv. The reasons which led to these conclusions in Baker are equally persuasive here. 39-40. 45-46. Baker v. Carr stated that states have to redraw district lines but the population in every district must be equal, to correct malapportionment. . The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature. 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.". You can find out more about our use, change your default settings, and withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future by visiting Cookies Settings, which can also be found in the footer of the site. . In urging the people to adopt the Constitution, Madison said in No. 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. Opinions to start the day, in your inbox. Despite a swell in population, certain urban areas were still receiving the same amount of representatives as rural areas with far less voters. 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. The group claimed Appellants are qualified voters in Georgia's Fifth Congressional District, the Members of the first are elected from each state in proportion to that states population; in the second, each state is represented by the same number of senators (in Australia, it is currently 12 senators for each state, while the two mainland territories have two senators each). . William Samuel Johnson of Connecticut had summed it up well: "in one branch, the people ought to be represented; in the other, the States." was confessedly unjust," [n22] and Rufus King of Massachusetts, was prepared for every event rather than sit down under a Govt. In a later separate opinion, he emphasized that his vote in Colergove had been based on the "particular circumstances" of that case. . . 3. . In upholding that claim, the Court attempts to effect reforms in a field which the Constitution, as plainly as can be, has committed exclusively to the political process. . . [n45], This provision for equal districts which the Court exactly duplicates, in effect, was carried forward in each subsequent apportionment statute through 1911. . [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. 17 Law & Contemp.Prob. . . Soon after the Convention assembled, Edmund Randolph of Virginia presented a plan not merely to amend the Articles of Confederation, but to create an entirely new National Government with a National Executive, National Judiciary, and a National Legislature of two Houses, one house to be elected by "the people," the second house to be elected by the first. 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. Decision was 6 to 2. How great a difference between the populations of various districts within a State is tolerable? As late as 1842, seven States still conducted congressional elections at large. https://www.thoughtco.com/baker-v-carr-4774789 (accessed March 1, 2023). [n12] In entire disregard of population, Art. 442,406353,15689,250, Kansas(5). 588,933301,872287,061, Colorado(4). It took only two years for 26 states to ratify new apportionment plans with respect to population counts. 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. Cook v. Fortson, 329 U.S. 675, 678. 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. . None of the Court's references [p34] to the ratification debates supports the view that the provision for election of Representatives "by the People" was intended to have any application to the apportionment of Representatives within the States; in each instance, the cited passage merely repeats what the Constitution itself provides: that Representatives were to be elected by the people of the States. . Reporters were given greater access to cover combat. [n45][p17]. Star Athletica, L.L.C. . at 467 (Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts); id. . 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. 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