In Evenwel v. Abbott, the “one-person, one-vote” case decided on April 4, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that a state may apportion its legislative districts on the basis of total population, even if this leads to a wide disparity in the number of eligible voters. Unfortunately, six justices reached this conclusion in part by relying on a misreading of the Federalist Papers and a misunderstanding of the different interests at play in federal and state apportionment rules.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg begins her majority opinion — which Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito joined only in result — by quoting a passage from Federalist 54, in which James Madison discusses the federal rule of apportioning representatives to the states. Madison explains that “it is a fundamental principle of the proposed constitution” that representatives be allocated based on the states’ “aggregate number of inhabitants,” and at the same time that “the state itself may designate” who is eligible to vote for those representatives.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.
For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]
