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Wells v. Rockefeller, 394 U.S. 542 (1969)
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General SummaryThis case is from a collection containing the full text of over 16,000 Supreme Court cases from 1793 to the present. The body of Supreme Court decisions are, effectively, the final interpretation of the Constitution. Only an amendment to the Constitution can permanently overturn an interpretation and this has happened only four times in American history.
Wells v. Rockefeller, 394 U.S. 542 (1969)
Wells v. Rockefeller No. 238 Argued January 13, 1969 Decided April 7, 1969 394 U.S. 542
APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR
THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
Syllabus
New York’s 1968 congressional districting statute treated seven sections of the State as homogeneous regions and divided each of these regions into districts of virtually identical population. Thirty-one of the 41 districts were thus constructed, with the remaining 10 composed of groupings of whole counties. The most populous district had more than 26,000 (6.488%) above the mean population, while the smallest district had over 27,000 (6.608%) below the mean. The District Court sustained the statute, stating that the plan afforded the voters "an opportunity to vote in the 1968 and 1970 elections on the basis of population equality within reasonably comparable districts."
Held:
1. The holding of Kirkpatrick v. Preisler, ante, p. 526, that
the command of Art. I, § 2, that States create congressional districts which provide equal representation for equal numbers of people permits only the limited population variances which are unavoidable despite a good faith effort to achieve absolute equality, or for which justification is shown,
requires equalized population in all districts, and is not satisfied by equalizing population only within defined sub-states. P. 546.
(a) There is no claim that New York made a good faith effort to achieve precise mathematical equality among its 41 districts. P. 546.
(b) "[T]o accept population variances, large or small, in order to create districts with specific interest orientations is antithetical to the basic premise of the constitutional command to provide equal representation for equal numbers of people." Kirkpatrick v. Preisler, supra, at 533. P. 546.
(c) Variances cannot be justified by the fact that some districts are constructed of entire counties. P. 546.
2. In view of the ample time remaining to promulgate a constitutional plan prior to the 1970 election, as distinguished from the 1968 election, the District Court’s judgment is reversed insofar as it approved the plan for the 1970 election. P. 547.
281 F.Supp. 821, reversed in part and remanded.
Contents:
Chicago: U.S. Supreme Court, "Syllabus," Wells v. Rockefeller, 394 U.S. 542 (1969) in 394 U.S. 542 394 U.S. 543. Original Sources, accessed November 10, 2024, http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=ZIPVRE7BBJG16DT.
MLA: U.S. Supreme Court. "Syllabus." Wells v. Rockefeller, 394 U.S. 542 (1969), in 394 U.S. 542, page 394 U.S. 543. Original Sources. 10 Nov. 2024. http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=ZIPVRE7BBJG16DT.
Harvard: U.S. Supreme Court, 'Syllabus' in Wells v. Rockefeller, 394 U.S. 542 (1969). cited in 1969, 394 U.S. 542, pp.394 U.S. 543. Original Sources, retrieved 10 November 2024, from http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=ZIPVRE7BBJG16DT.
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