similarities between baker v carr and wesberry v sanders

Attorneys on behalf of the state argued that the Supreme Court lacked grounds and jurisdiction to even hear the case. XIII, with N.J.Const., 1844, Art. . 13. Act of June 25, 1842, 2, 5 Stat. The key difference between the facts of Baker v. Carr and Wesberry v. Sanders is that the first decided on Representative district while the latter decided on the court that can rule of redistricting. . Congress exercised its power to regulate elections for the House of Representatives for the first time in 1842, when it provided that Representatives from States "entitled to more than one Representative" should be elected by districts of contiguous territory, "no one district electing more than one Representative." Since there is only one Congressman for each district, appellants claimed debasement of their right to vote resulting from the 1931 Georgia apportionment statute and failure of the legislature to realign that State's congressional districts more nearly to equalize the population of each. . . . The power appears to me satisfactory, and as unlikely to be abused as any part of the Constitution. There are some important differences of course. . Baker argued that re-apportionment was vital to the equality in the democratic process. at 357. 12. 5-6. VII, which restricted the vote to freeholders. A) The only difference in the two cases is that The Baker case was related to state legislative districts. 841, 87th Cong., 1st Sess., which amends 2 U.S.C. His PhD took 53 years. Ante, p. 15. [p5]. Moreover, by focusing exclusively on numbers in disregard of the area and shape of a congressional district as well as party affiliations within the district, the Court deals in abstractions which will be recognized even by the politically unsophisticated to have little relevance to the realities of political life. This 42. 711,045243,570467,475, Massachusetts(12). 40.Id. People doubt her as a female roofer: Were proving them wrong every day, She rescues baby squirrels: Theyre quite destructive. ; H.R. Not the rich more than the poor; not the learned more than the ignorant; not the haughty heirs of distinguished names more than the humble sons of obscure and unpropitious fortune. 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. Alternatively, it might have been thought that Representatives elected by free men of a State would speak also for the slaves. 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. 5. . 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. This appears from the terms of the act, and its legislative history shows that the omission was deliberate. . To say that a vote is worth more in one district than in another would not only run counter to our fundamental ideas of democratic government, it would cast aside the principle of a House of Representatives elected "by the People," a principle tenaciously fought for and established at the Constitutional Convention. Thorpe, op. [n47]. WebBaker V Carr. [n23], Mr. PARSONS contended for vesting in Congress the powers contained in the 4th section [of Art. As in Baker v. Carr, 369 U.S. 186, which involved alleged malapportionment of seats in a state legislature, the District Court had jurisdiction of the subject matter; appellants had standing to sue, and they had stated a justiciable cause of action on which relief could be granted. . 14. The Court issued its ruling on February 17, 1964. Neither of the numbers of The Federalist from which the Court quotes, ante, pp. This court case was a very critical point in the legal fight for the principle of One man, one I, 2,that Representatives be chosen "by the People of the several States" means that, as nearly as is practicable, one person's vote in a congressional election is to be worth as much as another's. . . founded in a vicious principle of representation and which must be as short-lived as it would be unjust. . 22) 206 F.Supp. H.R. WebBaker v. Carr, 369 U.S. 186 (1962), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that redistricting qualifies as a justiciable question under the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, thus enabling federal courts to hear Fourteenth Amendment-based redistricting cases.The court summarized its Baker 331,818275,10356,715, NewJersey(15). . 2 The Works of James Wilson (Andrews ed. Although the Court finds necessity for its artificial construction of Article I in the undoubted importance of the right to vote, that right is not involved in this case. I, 2, of the Constitution, which, carrying out the ideas of Madison and those of like views, provides that Representatives shall be chosen "by the People of the several States," and shall be "apportioned among the several States . IV Elliot's Debates 257. I, 2, lays down the ipse dixit "one person, one vote" in congressional elections. [n6]. [n45], This provision for equal districts which the Court exactly duplicates, in effect, was carried forward in each subsequent apportionment statute through 1911. possessing a freehold of the value of twenty pounds, . 52.See, e.g., 86 Cong.Rec. . Webviews 1,544,492 updated. . . There are multiple levels of government, and each level has independent authority over some important policy areas. 539,618312,890226,728, Washington(7). [n3] Judge Tuttle, disagreeing with the court's reliance on that opinion, dissented from the dismissal, though he would have denied an injunction at that time in order to give the Georgia Legislature ample opportunity to correct the "abuses" in the apportionment. according to their respective Numbers." . For the statutory standards under which these commissions operate, see House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Acts of 1949, 12 13 Geo. at 533. . I, 4, is the exclusive remedy. [n36] Section 2 was not mentioned. . The Federalist, No. 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. . Legislature, as it was presumable that the Counties having the power in the former case would secure it to themselves in the latter. The history of the Constitution, particularly that part of it relating to the adoption of Art. Of all the federal countries considered in our edited volume, Courts in Federal Countries: Federalists or Unitarists? Star Athletica, L.L.C. These were words of great latitude. Baker v. Carr (1962) was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case and an important point in the legal fight for the One man, one vote principle. . . . 57 (Cooke ed.1961), 389. . 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. 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. 57, Madison merely stated his assumption that Philadelphia's population would entitle it to two Representatives in answering the argument that congressional constituencies would be too large for good government. . . There were also, however, many statements favoring limited monarchy and property qualifications for suffrage and expressions of disapproval for unrestricted democracy. The trial court, however, did not pass upon the merits of the case, although it does appear that it did make a finding that the Fifth District of Georgia was "grossly out of balance" with other congressional districts of the State. 51. at 606. . 735; Act of Jan. 16, 1901, 3, 31 Stat. . The appearance of support in that section derives from the Court's confusion of two issues: direct election of Representatives within the States and the apportionment of Representatives among the States. . The Federalist, No. The House of Representatives, the Convention agreed, was to represent the people as individuals, and on a basis of complete equality for each voter. When you visit the site, Dotdash Meredith and its partners may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. & Pa. have 42/90 of the votes, they can do as they please without a miraculous Union of the other ten; that they will have nothing to do but to gain over one of the ten to make them compleat masters of the rest. 70 Cong.Rec. How can it be, then, that this very same sentence prevents Georgia from apportioning its Representatives as it chooses? The Supreme Court granted certiorari. They thought splitting power across multiple levels of government would prevent tyranny. Although the states differed in size, population, economy, and resources, each state insisted on being treated as a constitutive equal in forming the federal constitution. Women were not allowed to vote. 2648, 82d Cong., 1st Sess. . It cannot be contended, therefore, that the Court's decision today fills a gap left by the Congress. . Nor is this a case in which an emergent set of facts requires the Court to frame new principles to protect recognized constitutional rights. . 660,345237,235423,110, Georgia(10). None of those cases has the slightest bearing on the present situation. Other provisions of the Constitution would, of course, be relevant, but, so far as Art. 57 of The Federalist: Who are to be the electors of the Federal Representatives? ." d. Reporters were given less access to cover combat. Some of those new plans were guided by federal court decisions. 162; Act of Nov. 15, 1941, 55 Stat. See Luce, Legislative Principles (1930), 356-357. . WebCarr (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 This provision reinforces the evident constitutional scheme of leaving to the Congress the protection of federal interests involved in the selection of members of the Congress. . . . The government of each of these cantons has a permanent legal status, and powers are divided between the canton governments and the national government. The three cases Baker v. Carr, Wesberry v. Sanders, and Reynolds v. Sims established that states were required to conduct redistricting so that the districts had 588,933301,872287,061, Colorado(4). no one district electing more than one Representative. 71. Mr. Justice Rutledge, in Colgerove, believed that the Court should exercise its equitable discretion to refuse relief because. (For a book-length discussion, see here.). This dismissal can no more be justified on the ground of "want of equity" than on the ground of "nonjusticiability." 276, reversed and remanded. The five States are Iowa, Maine, New Hampshire, North Dakota, and Rhode Island. This would leave a House of Representatives composed of the 22 Representatives elected at large plus eight elected in congressional districts. 572,654317,973254,681, Virginia(10). 5, 6; Act of Feb. 7, 1891, 3, 26 Stat. I, 2, was being discussed, there are repeated references to apportionment and related problems affecting the States' selection of Representatives in connection with Art. 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. Andrews ed the five States are Iowa, Maine, new Hampshire, Dakota... 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