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Baker v. Carr - Significance, Charles Whittaker, Further Readings

Appellants

Charles W. Baker, et al.

Appellees

Joe E. Carr, et al.

Appellants' Claim

That electoral districts which were drawn in such a way as to provide inadequate representation violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Chief Lawyers for Appellants

Charles S. Rhyme, Z. T. Osborn, Jr.

Chief Lawyer for Appellees

Jack Wilson, Assistant Attorney General of Tennessee

Justices for the Court

Hugo Lafayette Black, William J. Brennan, Jr. (writing for the Court), Tom C. Clark, William O. Douglas, Potter Stewart, Earl Warren

Justices Dissenting

Felix Frankfurter, John Marshall Harlan II (Charles Evans Whittaker did not participate)

Place

Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision

26 March 1962

Decision

Finding that constitutional challenges to malapportionment could be addressed by federal courts, the Supreme Court upheld the appellants' claim by a 6-2 vote.

Related Cases

  • Colgrove v. Green, 328 U.S. 459 (1946).
  • Gray v. Sanders, 372 U.S. 368 (1962).
  • Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U.S. 533 (1964).
  • Wesberry v. Sanders, 376 U.S. 1 (1964).

Sources

Cornell. http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/.

Additional Topics

Baker v. Carr - Further Readings

Baker v. Carr - Significance

This case made it possible for unrepresented voters to have their districts redrawn by federal courts, initiating a decade of lawsuits that would eventually result in a redrawing of the nation's political map. In many states it reduced the disproportionate power of rural voters and their legislative representation and increased that of urban and suburban voters and their representation. Citizens o…

Baker v. Carr - Charles Whittaker

Charles Evans Whittaker served as an associate justice on the U.S. Supreme Court during the five year period beginning in 1957 and ending in 1962. During his tenure on the High Court, Whittaker's opinions made him known as a "middle-of-the-road conservative." He had been nominated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower after only one year as a judge for the Eighth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals, …

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User Comments Add a comment…

almost 2 years ago

kim sanchez

great source but it would be better if it had the origins and history of it...as in how it even got started and who exactly bake and car were