White v. Weiser

1973-06-18

Headline: Court finds Texas’s 1971 congressional map failed population-equality rules, blocks the court-imposed population-only map, and tells courts to prefer state-backed plans that meet population equality.

Holding: The Court affirmed that Texas’s 1971 congressional map violated equal-population rules, reversed the lower court’s adoption of a population-only plan, and directed courts to implement state-consistent plans that satisfy population equality.

Real World Impact:

Invalidates Texas’s 1971 congressional map for population deviations.
Requires courts to prefer state-backed redistricting plans that meet population equality.
Remands the case so a state-consistent, population-equal plan can be implemented.

Topics: congressional districting, population equality, redistricting remedies, state legislative power

Summary

Background

Texas enacted Senate Bill 1 in June 1971 to draw 24 congressional districts based on the 1970 census. The ideal district size was 466,530 people, but SB1’s districts varied, with the largest about 2.43% over and the smallest about 1.70% under the ideal. Residents from several districts sued the Secretary of State, arguing the plan denied equal representation. The three-judge federal court declared SB1 unconstitutional and ordered a new map called Plan C, which ignored the Legislature’s district shapes and optimized population only; another alternative, Plan B, adjusted the Legislature’s map to achieve closer population equality. The Supreme Court stayed the lower court order so the 1972 elections used SB1 pending appeal.

Reasoning

The Court applied earlier one-person, one-vote decisions and asked whether population differences resulted despite a good-faith effort to achieve equality or were otherwise justified. The Court agreed SB1’s deviations were not unavoidable and could have been reduced. It held that when fixing unconstitutional congressional maps, courts should respect state policy and legislative districting choices when those choices can meet constitutional population requirements. Because Plan B kept the Legislature’s basic districting choices while achieving closer equality, the District Court erred in imposing Plan C, which abandoned legislative policy.

Real world impact

The ruling invalidates Texas’s 1971 congressional map as failing population-equality standards and reverses the court’s choice of a population-only remedy. Federal courts must prefer state-consistent redistricting plans that meet equality requirements, and the case was sent back to the lower court for further proceedings consistent with this guidance.

Dissents or concurrances

Two Justices concurred with the judgment but added views: one warned against demanding slide-rule mathematical exactitude; another urged that courts remain neutral and avoid political considerations when crafting remedial maps.