Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U.S. 533 (1964) was a United States Supreme Court case that ruled that state legislature districts had to be roughly equal in population. 1964 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Seal of the Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States, located in Washington, D.C., is the highest federal court (see supreme court) in the United States; that is, it has ultimate judicial authority within the United States to interpret and decide questions of federal law, including the... Chamber of the Estates-General, the Dutch legislature. ...

Having already overturned its ruling that redistricting was a purely political question in Baker v. Carr, 369 U.S. 186 (1962), the Court went further in order to correct what seemed to it to be egregious examples of malapportionment which were serious enough to undermine the premises underlying representative democracy. Before Reynolds, disparities existed between state senates far greater than disparities in the U.S. Senate. Urban counties were often drastically underrepresented. Baker v. ... 1962 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Seal of the Senate The Senate is one of the two houses of the Congress of the United States, the other being the House of Representatives. ... Urban is in or having to do with cities, as distinct from rural areas. ...

Here are a few pre-Reynolds disparities compiled by then-Arizona Representative Morris K. Udall: State nickname: The Grand Canyon State, The Copper State Other U.S. States Capital Phoenix Largest city Phoenix Governor Janet Napolitano Official languages English Only State Area 295,254 km² (6th)  - Land 294,312 km²  - Water 942 km² (0. ... Morris King Udall (June 15, 1922 - December 12, 1998), better known as Mo, was an American politician who served as a U.S. Representative from Arizona from 1961 to 1991. ...

• In Connecticut one House district had 191 people; another, 81,000.
• In New Hampshire one township with three people had a state assemblyman; this was the same representation given another district with 3,244. The vote of a resident of the first township was therefore 108,000 percent more powerful at the Capitol.
• In Utah the smallest district had 164 people, the largest 32,280 (28 times the population of the other).
• In Vermont the smallest district had 36 people, the largest 35,000, a ratio of almost 1,000 to 1.
• In California, Los Angeles County, which had a population of six million, had one state senator, as did the 14,000 people of one rural county.
• In Idaho the smallest Senate district had 951 people; the largest, 93,400.
• Nevada's 17 State senators represented as many as 127,000 or as few as 568 people, a ratio of 224 to 1.

The eight justices who struck down state senate inequality based their decision on the principle of "one man, one vote." In his majority decision, Chief Justice Earl Warren said "Legislators represent people, not trees or acres. Legislators are elected by voters, not farms or cities or economic interests." State nickname: The Constitution State Other U.S. States Capital Hartford Largest city Bridgeport Governor M. Jodi Rell Official languages English Area 14,371 km² (48th)  - Land 12,559 km²  - Water 1,809 km² (12. ... State nickname: The Granite State Other U.S. States Capital Concord Largest city Manchester Governor John Lynch Official languages English Area 24,239 km² (46th)  - Land 23,249 km²  - Water 814 km² (3. ... State nickname: Beehive State Other U.S. States Capital Salt Lake City Largest city Salt Lake City Governor Jon M. Huntsman, Jr. ... State nickname: The Green Mountain State Other U.S. States Capital Montpelier Largest city Burlington Governor Jim Douglas Official languages None Area 24,923 km² (45th)  - Land 23,974 km²  - Water 949 km² (3. ... State nickname: The Golden State Other U.S. States Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger Official languages English Area 410,000 km² (3rd)  - Land 404,298 km²  - Water 20,047 km² (4. ... Map of California showing Los Angeles County. ... Rural areas are sparsely settled places away from the influence of large cities and towns. ... State nickname: Gem State Other U.S. States Capital Boise Largest city Boise Governor Dirk Kempthorne Official languages none Area 216,632 km² (14th)  - Land 214,499 km²  - Water 2,133 km² (0. ... State nickname: Silver State, Battle Born State (official) Other U.S. States Capital Carson City Largest city Las Vegas Governor Kenny Guinn Official languages None Area 286,367 km² (7th)  - Land 284,396 km²  - Water 1,971 km² (0. ... A Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is the head judge in a supreme court. ... Earl Warren Earl Warren (March 19, 1891 – July 9, 1974) was a California district attorney and 30th Governor of California, but is best known as the 14th Chief Justice of the United States from 1953-1969. ...

In dissent, Justice John Marshall Harlan II lambasted the Court for ignoring the original intention of the Equal Protection Clause, which he argued did not extend to voting rights. Harlan claimed the Court was imposing its own idea of "good government" on the states, stifling creativity and violating federalism. He pointed out that if Reynolds was correct, then the United States Constitution's own provision for two United States Senators from each state would then be Constitutionally suspect as the fifty states have anything but "substantially equal populations." "One-man, one vote" was extended to Congressional districts in 1964's Wesberry v. Sanders. John Marshall Harlan II (May 20, 1899- December 29, 1971) was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. ... Originalism in constitutional interpretation is the view that the interpretation of a written constitution is (or should be) consistent with what it was originally understood to mean by those who drafted and/or ratified it. ... The Equal Protection Clause is a part of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, providing that no state shall. ... Wesberry v. ...

Reynolds v. Sims set off a legislative firestorm in the country. Sen. Everett Dirksen of Illinois led a fight to pass a Constitutional amendment allowing unequal legislative districts. Dirksen warned that if Everett McKinley Dirksen Everett McKinley Dirksen (January 4, 1896 – September 7, 1969) was a Republican U.S. Congressman and Senator from Illinois. ... State nickname: Land of Lincoln, The Prairie State Other U.S. States Capital Springfield Largest city Chicago Governor Rod Blagojevich Official languages English Area 149,998 km² (25th)  - Land 143,968 km²  - Water 6,030 km² (4. ... A constitutional amendment is an alteration to the constitution of a nation or a state. ...

". . .the forces of our national life are not brought to bear on public questions solely in proportion to the weight of numbers. If they were, the 6 million citizens of the Chicago area would hold sway in the Illinois Legislature without consideration of the problems of their 4 million fellows who are scattered in 100 other counties. Under the Court's new decree, California could be dominated by Los Angeles and San Francisco; Michigan by Detroit.."

Dirksen was ultimately unsuccessful.

See also

• Rotten borough, an English phenomenon

The term rotten borough (or pocket borough, as they were seen as being in the pocket of a patron) refers to a parliamentary borough or constituency in the Kingdom of England (pre-1707), the Kingdom of Great Britain (1707-1801), the Kingdom of Ireland (1536-1801) and the United Kingdom...

External links

• http://dizzy.library.arizona.edu/branches/spc/udall/congrept/88th/641014.html