Lucas v. Forty-Fourth General Assembly of Colorado

Background

Voters and residents from the Denver area sued to challenge Colorado’s 1962 constitutional amendment (Amendment No. 7) that set up 65 House districts and a 39-member Senate. The amendment required the House to be drawn “as nearly equal in population as may be,” but largely kept the old method for the Senate that mixes population with county and geographic considerations. Plaintiffs said the plan left large population disparities, and a federal district court had sustained the amendment.

Reasoning

The Court reviewed whether both chambers of a state legislature must be based substantially on population. It relied on its companion opinion (Reynolds v. Sims) and concluded that the Senate plan’s departures from population were too large to meet the Equal Protection requirement. The Court noted the House was likely drawn closely enough by population, but the Senate gave a majority of seats to areas holding only about 33% of the State’s people and showed population variances as large as about 3.6-to-1. The Court therefore reversed the district court’s ruling and sent the case back for appropriate remedies.

Real world impact

The decision means Colorado must change its Senate districts to bring both houses into line with population-based apportionment. The Court left the lower court to decide how quickly that must happen and whether the 1964 elections may proceed under the existing amendment or require interim relief. The Court also rejected the idea that a popular referendum or the availability of initiative petitions can make an otherwise unconstitutional map valid.

Dissents or concurrances

Justices Stewart and Clark dissented, arguing states should have latitude to protect local and geographic interests and that popular approval and Colorado’s initiative process supported the plan.