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Abstract
| Argument: |
Monday, November 18, 1963
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| Decision: |
Monday, February 17, 1964 |
| Issues: |
Civil Rights, Reapportionment |
| Categories: |
elections, justiciability, political questions, reapportionment, separation of powers |
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Advocates
| Emmet J. Bondurant, II |
(Argued the cause for the appellants) |
| Frank T. Cash |
(Pro hac vice, by special leave of Court, argued the cause for the appellants) |
| Bruce J. Terris |
(By special leave of Court, argued the cause for the United States, as amicus curiae, urging reversal) |
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Facts of the Case
James P. Wesberry, Jr. filed a suit against the Governor of Georgia, Carl E. Sanders, protesting the state's apportionment scheme. The Fifth Congressional District, of which Wesberry was a member, had a population two to three times larger than some of the other districts in the state. Wesberry claimed this system diluted his right to vote compared to other Georgia residents.
Question
Did Georgia's congressional districts violate the Fourteenth Amendment or deprive citizens of the full benefit of their right to vote?
Conclusion
The Court held that Georgia's apportionment scheme grossly discriminated against voters in the Fifth Congressional District. Because a single congressman had to represent two to three times as many people as were represented by congressmen in other districts, the Georgia statute contracted the value of some votes and expanded the value of others. The Court recognized that "no right is more precious" than that of having a voice in elections and held that "[t]o 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. . .'"
