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Gaffney v. Cummings, 412 U.S. 735 (1973)
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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.
Gaffney v. Cummings, 412 U.S. 735 (1973)
Gaffney v. Cummings No. 71-1476 Argued February 26-27, 1973 Decided June 18, 1973 412 U.S. 735
APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT
Syllabus
Connecticut’s legislative apportionment plan was held by the District Court to be unconstitutional because partisan political structuring had resulted in excessive population deviations in the House districting.
Held:
1. Minor deviations from mathematical equality among state legislative districts do not make out a prima facie case of invidious discrimination under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and in this case, where the House districts deviated on the average by 1.9% and the maximum deviation was 7.83%, a prima facie case was not made out. Pp. 740-751.
2. A "political fairness principle" that achieves a rough approximation of the state-wide political strengths of the two major parties does not violate the Equal Protection Clause. Pp. 751-754.
341 F.Supp. 139, reversed.
WHITE, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which BURGER, C.J., and STEWART, BLACKMUN, POWELL, and REHNQUIST, JJ., joined. BRENNAN, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which DOUGLAS and MARSHALL, JJ., joined, post, p. 772.
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Chicago: U.S. Supreme Court, "Syllabus," Gaffney v. Cummings, 412 U.S. 735 (1973) in 412 U.S. 735 Original Sources, accessed November 24, 2024, http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=8FJK351KUWZJ9LR.
MLA: U.S. Supreme Court. "Syllabus." Gaffney v. Cummings, 412 U.S. 735 (1973), in 412 U.S. 735, Original Sources. 24 Nov. 2024. http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=8FJK351KUWZJ9LR.
Harvard: U.S. Supreme Court, 'Syllabus' in Gaffney v. Cummings, 412 U.S. 735 (1973). cited in 1973, 412 U.S. 735. Original Sources, retrieved 24 November 2024, from http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=8FJK351KUWZJ9LR.
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