Connor Et Al. v. Waller, Governor of Mississippi, Et Al.

Background

This case is an appeal from a May 22, 1975 judgment by a three-judge federal court in the Southern District of Mississippi. The dispute involves two 1975 state measures, House Bill No. 1290 and Senate Bill No. 2976. The lower court had held those measures were not legislative acts that needed federal review under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, a provision that requires certain changes to election laws to get federal approval before taking effect.

Reasoning

The central question was whether the two 1975 measures are legislative enactments that must be submitted for federal approval under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. The Supreme Court reversed the district court, saying the measures are subject to Section 5 and therefore are not effective laws until they receive the required federal clearance. Because the measures are not effective, the Court said the lower court should not have decided the constitutional claims of racial discrimination against those Acts at this time.

Real world impact

The ruling prevents Mississippi’s 1975 measures from becoming law until they get federal clearance under the Voting Rights Act, and it affects how the State may conduct the 1975 elections. The decision also leaves open the District Court’s authority to order elections under a court-drawn reapportionment plan that follows this Court’s prior decisions, so election arrangements could still proceed under court supervision rather than under the challenged bills.

Dissents or concurrances

Justice Marshall, in a concurrence, would add explicit instructions to enjoin any future elections under these bills unless the State obtains federal approval or a favorable declaratory judgment from the District Court for the District of Columbia.