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Baker v. Carr

United States Supreme Court
369 U.S. 186 (1962)

Written by Megan Petersen, JD

Facts

A Tennessee act enacted in 1901 apportioned the members of the Tennessee General Assembly among the state’s 95 counties based on the number of qualified voters in each county. By 1961, population growth and urbanization had resulted in the assembly districts having drastically different numbers of voters. A group of Tennessee voters (plaintiffs) living in densely populated districts sued Tennessee Secretary of State Joseph Carr in federal district court. The voters claimed that continued use of the 1901 apportionment scheme meant that their votes effectively carried less weight than the votes of voters in less populated, rural districts, denying them the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. Carr argued that legislative districting issues were political questions not justiciable by the courts. When the district court dismissed the case, the voters appealed to the United States Supreme Court.

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Issue

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Holding and Reasoning (Brennan, J.)

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Dissent (Frankfurter, J.)

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