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Impact of Case
Established 'one person, one vote' principle for legislative apportionment.
The U.S. Supreme Court used Baker to require
that the United States House of Representatives and state legislatures establish electoral districts of similar population in Wesberry v. Sanders
and Reynolds v. Sims
Court Holding
Baker v. Carr set a precedent by allowing federal courts to rule on the redistricting of state legislative districts, applying the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause.
How did Baker v. Carr establish the justiciability of legislative apportionment under the 14th Amendment?
Key Facts
- Baker, from an urban part of the state, stated that over the years, there had been dramatic shifts of population from rural areas to urban areas..
- Since the legislative districts hadn't been changed accordingly, the urban areas of TN were underrepresented while the rural areas were overrepresented.
- This was because the rural district had a much smaller population, so the power among the district was split up with an individual in a rural area having more power than one in an urban area.
- Approximately 11% of the population lived in rural areas, and yet, more than 50% of the representatives in the state legislature was elected by them.
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BAKER V CARR (1962)
Landmark SCOTUS Case Presentation
Big Question
Big Question:
Court Holding: 6-2 in favor of Baker. They held that the redistricting of state legislative districts was something that federal court had the authority to rule on. The expansion of SCOTUS's ability was defined by the classification of redistricting issues as justiciable meaning courts had authority to trial and rule a verdict
Do federal courts have the authority to rule on the redistricting of state legislative districts?
Constitutional Connection
Central issue: Legality of unequal state legislative districts
- The Fourteenth Amendment which includes the clause of equal protection
- The clause of equal protection states, "nor shall any State ... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws"
- The original purpose of the clause was to protect African Americans from discrimination
- The complaint from Carr was that rural districts were apportioned in 1901 so that rural citizens were getting more representation than urban citizens which were growing at a monumental pace