Baker v. Carr
United States Supreme Court
369 U.S. 186 (1962)
Tennessee's constitution required legislative districts to be redrawn every ten years to track population changes, but the state had not redistricted since 1901, leaving Baker's (plaintiff's) urban Shelby County district with roughly ten times the population of some rural districts even though each got the same representation. Baker sued Tennessee's Secretary of State, Carr (defendant), claiming this malapportionment diluted urban votes in violation of the Equal Protection Clause. Tennessee argued the issue was a nonjusticiable political question the courts could not decide, relying on prior cases treating similar districting challenges brought under the Guaranty Clause as political questions.
Whether a claim that a state's legislative malapportionment violates the Equal Protection Clause is a nonjusticiable political question beyond the reach of the federal courts.