Reynolds v. Sims - Significance, "legislators Represent People, Not Trees", The Census, Further Readings

Reynolds v. Sims - Further Readings

Reynolds v. Sims - Significance

Reynolds v. Sims rendered at least one house of most legislatures unconstitutional. Within two years, the boundaries of legislative districts had been redrawn all across the nation. The Supreme Court began what came to be known as the reapportionment revolution with its opinion in the 1962 case, Baker v. Carr. Baker v. Carr held that federal courts are able to rule on the constitutionality of the …

Reynolds v. Sims - "legislators Represent People, Not Trees"

Chief Justice Warren began his opinion for the Court by noting that because there appeared to be no political remedy to malapportionment in Alabama, the federal courts were obliged to make a ruling. The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment guarantees that each citizen's vote will have equal weight in determining the outcome of state elections. In order to insure that this happened, …

Reynolds v. Sims - The Census

Every ten years since 1790, the United States has conducted a census as authorized by the Constitution. This is far more than a simple headcount; census data provides a detailed national portrait which assists the federal, state, and local governments (and private entities, who also access the information) in demographic-based planning. The Census Bureau distributes detailed questionnaires to hous…