Source: http://openjurist.org/503/us/442
Timestamp: 2016-12-04 21:08:25
Document Index: 84799245

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 2', '§ 2', '§ 2', '§ 2', '§ 24', '§ 1']

503 U.S. 442 - United States Department of Commerce v. Montana Homethe United States Reports503 U.S.
In 1842, Congress abandoned the Jefferson method in favor of an approach supported by Senator Daniel Webster. The Webster method took account of fractional remainders that were greater than one-half by allocating "one additional representative for each State having a fraction greater than one moiety."21 Thus, if that method had been used in 1790, Connecticut's quota of 7.89 would have entitled it to 8 Representatives, whereas Rhode Island, with a quota of 2.28, would have received only 2. The Webster method is also described as the "method of major fractions."
After the 1920 census Congress failed to pass a reapportionment Act, but debates over the proper method of apportionment ultimately led to a request to the National Academy of Sciences to appoint a committee of experts to review the subject. That committee, composed of respected mathematicians, recommended the adoption of the "method of equal proportions." Congress used that method in its apportionment after the 1930 census, and formally adopted it in the 1941 statute at issue in this case.25
The report of the National Academy of Sciences committee noted that Congress had properly rejected the Hamilton/Vinton method, and concluded that the use of only five methods could lead to a workable solution of the fractional remainder problem.26 In the opinion of the committee members, given the fact that it is impossible for all States to have districts of the same size, the best method was the one that minimized the discrepancy between the size of the districts in any pair of States. Under their test of fairness, a method was satisfactory if, for any pair of States, the transfer of one Representative would not decrease the discrepancy between those States' districts.27 The choice of a method depended on how one decided to measure the discrepancy between district sizes. Each of the five methods could be described as the "best" in the sense of minimizing the discrepancy between districts, depending on the discrepancy measure selected. The method of the harmonic mean, for example, yielded the fairest apportionment if the discrepancy was measured by the absolute difference between the number of persons per Representative. The method of major fractions was the best method if the discrepancy was measured by the absolute difference between the number of Representatives per person (also known as each person's "share" of a Representative28). The method of equal proportions produced the fairest apportionment if the discrepancy was measured by the "relative difference"29 in either the size of the district or the share of a Representative.30
If either the method of smallest divisors or the method of the harmonic mean, also known as the "Dean Method," had been used after the 1990 census, Montana would have received a second seat. Under the method of equal proportions, which was actually used, five other States had stronger claims to an additional seat because Montana's claim to a second seat was the 441st on the equal proportions "priority list," see n. 26, supra.32 Montana would not have received a second seat under either the method of major fractions or greatest divisors.
The Government argues that Congress' selection of any of the alternative apportionment methods involved in this litigation is not subject to judicial review. Relying principally on Baker v. Carr, 369 U.S. 186, 82 S.Ct. 691, 7 L.Ed.2d 663 (1962), the Government contends that the choice among these methods presents a "political question" not amenable to judicial resolution.
"Unless one of these formulations is inextricable from the case at bar, there should be no dismissal for non-justiciability on the ground of a political question's presence. The doctrine of which we treat is one of 'political questions,' not one of 'political cases.' The courts cannot reject as 'no law suit' a bona fide controversy as to whether some action denominated 'political' exceeds constitutional authority." Id., at 217, 82 S.Ct., at 710.
The Government insists that each of the factors identified in Baker supports the conclusion that the question presented here is committed to the "political branches" to the exclusion of the Judiciary. Significantly, however, the Government does not suggest that all congressional decisions relating to apportionment are beyond judicial review. The Government does not, for instance, dispute that a court could set aside an apportionment plan that violated the constitutional requirement that "[t]he number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand."33 Further, with respect to the provision that Representatives "shall be apportioned among the several States . . . according to their respective Numbers,"34 the Government acknowledges that Congress has a judicially enforceable obligation to select an apportionment plan that is related to population.35 The gravamen of the Government's argument is that the District Court erred in concluding that the Constitution imposes the more rigorous requirement of greatest possible equality in the size of congressional districts, as measured by absolute deviation from ideal district size. The Government then does not dispute Montana's contention that the Constitution places substantive limitations on Congress' apportionment power and that violations of those limitations would present a justiciable controversy. Where the parties differ is in their understanding of the content of these limitations. In short, the Government takes issue not with the existence of a judicially enforceable right, but with the definition of such a right.
When a court concludes that an issue presents a nonjusticiable political question, it declines to address the merits of that issue. See Gilligan v. Morgan, 413 U.S. 1, 10-12, 93 S.Ct. 2440, 2445-2447, 37 L.Ed.2d 407 (1973); Baker v. Carr, 369 U.S., at 197, 82 S.Ct., at 699; see also Colegrove v. Green, 328 U.S. 549, 552-556, 66 S.Ct. 1198, 1199-1201, 90 L.Ed. 1432 (1946) (plurality opinion). In invoking the political question doctrine, a court acknowledges the possibility that a constitutional provision may not be judicially enforceable.36 Such a decision is of course very different from determining that specific congressional action does not violate the Constitution.37 That determination is a decision on the merits that reflects the exercise of judicial review, rather than the abstention from judicial review that would be appropriate in the case of a true political question.
The case before us today is "political" in the same sense that Baker v. Carr was a "political case." 369 U.S., at 217, 82 S.Ct., at 710. It raises an issue of great importance to the political branches.38 The issue has motivated partisan and sectional debate during important portions of our history. Nevertheless, the reasons that supported the justiciability of challenges to state legislative districts, as in Baker v. Carr, as well as state districting decisions relating to the election of Members of Congress, see, e.g., Wesberry v. Sanders, 376 U.S. 1, 84 S.Ct. 526, 11 L.Ed.2d 481 (1964); Karcher v. Daggett, 462 U.S. 725, 103 S.Ct. 2653, 77 L.Ed.2d 133 (1983), apply with equal force to the issues presented by this litigation. The controversy between Montana and the Government turns on the proper interpretation of the relevant constitutional provisions. As our previous rejection of the political question doctrine in this context should make clear, the interpretation of the apportionment provisions of the Constitution is well within the competence of the Judiciary. See Davis v. Bandemer, 478 U.S. 109, 123, 106 S.Ct. 2797, 2805, 92 L.Ed.2d 85 (1986); Baker v. Carr, 369 U.S., at 234-237, 82 S.Ct., at 719-721; cf. Gilligan v. Morgan, 413 U.S., at 11, 93 S.Ct., at 2446. The political question doctrine presents no bar to our reaching the merits of this dispute and deciding whether the District Court correctly construed the constitutional provisions at issue.
Our previous apportionment cases concerned States' decisions creating legislative districts; today we review the actions of Congress. Respect for a coordinate branch of Government raises special concerns not present in our prior cases, but those concerns relate to the merits of the controversy rather than to our power to resolve it. As the issue is properly raised in a case otherwise unquestionably within our jurisdiction, we must determine whether Congress exercised its apportionment authority within the limits dictated by the Constitution. See INS v. Chadha, 462 U.S. 919, 940-941, 103 S.Ct. 2764, 2778-2779, 77 L.Ed.2d 317 (1983); Powell v. McCormack, 395 U.S. 486, 521, 89 S.Ct. 1944, 1964, 23 L.Ed.2d 491 (1969). Without the need for another exploration of the Baker factors, it suffices to say that, as in Baker itself and the apportionment cases that followed, the political question doctrine does not place this kind of constitutional interpretation outside the proper domain of the Judiciary.
In Wesberry v. Sanders, 376 U.S. 1, 84 S.Ct. 526, 11 L.Ed.2d 481 (1964), the Court considered the claim of voters in Fulton County, Georgia, that the disparity between the size of their congressional district (823,680) and the average size of the ten districts in Georgia (394,312) deprived them of the right "to have their votes for Congressmen given the same weight as the votes of other Georgians." Id., at 3, 84 S.Ct., at 527. This Court upheld the claim, concluding that Article I, § 2, had established a "high standard of justice and common sense" for the apportionment of congressional districts: "equal representation for equal numbers of people." Id., at 18, 84 S.Ct., at 535. The constitutional command that Representatives be chosen "by the People of the several States" meant that "as nearly as is practicable one man's vote in a congressional election is to be worth as much as another's." Id., at 7-8, 84 S.Ct., at 529-530. Writing for the Court, Justice Black explained:
"It would defeat the principle solemnly embodied in the Great Compromise—equal representation in the House for equal numbers of people—for us to hold that, within the States, legislatures may draw the lines of congressional districts in such a way as to give some voters a greater voice in choosing a Congressman than others. The House of Representatives, the Convention agreed, was to represent the people as individuals, and on a basis of complete equality for each voter." Id., at 14, 84 S.Ct., at 533.
In subsequent cases, the Court interpreted that standard as imposing a burden on the States to "make a good-faith effort to achieve precise mathematical equality." Kirkpatrick v. Preisler, 394 U.S. 526, 530-531, 89 S.Ct. 1225, 1228-1229, 22 L.Ed.2d 519 (1969); see also Karcher v. Daggett, 462 U.S., at 730, 103 S.Ct., at 2658.
Montana's evidence demonstrated that if Congress had used the method of the harmonic mean (sometimes referred to as the "Dean method") instead of the method of equal proportions (sometimes called the "Hill method") to apportion the districts, 48 of the States would have received the same number of Representatives, while Washington would have received one less—eight instead of nine—and Montana would have received one more. Under an apportionment undertaken according to the Hill method, the absolute difference between the population of Montana's single district (803,655) and the ideal (572,466) is 231,189; the difference between the average Washington district (543,105) and the ideal is 29,361. Hence, the sum of the differences between the average and the ideal district size in the two States is 260,550. Under the Dean method, Montana would have two districts with an average population of 401,838, representing a deviation from the ideal of 170,638; Washington would then have eight districts averaging 610,993, which is a deviation of 38,527 from the ideal district size. The sum of the deviations from the ideal in the two States would thus be 209,165 under the Dean method (harmonic mean), while it is 260,550 under the Hill method (equal proportions). More generally, Montana emphasizes that the Dean method is the best method for minimizing the absolute deviations from ideal district size.
There is some force to the argument that the same historical insights that informed our construction of Article 1, § 2 in the context of intrastate districting should apply here as well. As we interpreted the constitutional command that Representatives be chosen "by the People of the several States" to require the States to pursue equality in representation, we might well find that the requirement that Representatives be apportioned among the several States "according to their respective Numbers" would also embody the same principle of equality. Yet it is by no means clear that the facts here establish a violation of the Wesberry standard. In cases involving variances within a State, changes in the absolute differences from the ideal produce parallel changes in the relative differences. Within a State, there is no theoretical incompatibility entailed in minimizing both the absolute and the relative differences. In this case, in contrast, the reduction in the absolute difference between the size of Montana's district and the size of the ideal district has the effect of increasing the variance in the relative difference39 between the ideal and the size of the districts in both Montana and Washington.40 Moreover, whereas reductions in the variances among districts within a given State bring all of the affected districts closer to the ideal, in this case a change that would bring Montana closer to the ideal pushes the Washington districts away from that ideal.41
What is the better measure of inequality—absolute difference in district size, absolute difference in share of a Representative, relative difference in district size or share? Neither mathematical analysis nor constitutional interpretation provides a conclusive answer. In none of these alternative measures of inequality do we find a substantive principle of commanding constitutional significance. The polestar of equal representation does not provide sufficient guidance to allow us to discern a single constitutionally permissible course.
A State's compliance with Wesberry's "high standard of justice and common sense" begins with a good-faith effort to produce complete equality for each voter. As our cases involving variances of only a fraction of one percent demonstrate, that goal is realistic and appropriate for State districting decisions. See Karcher v. Daggett, 462 U.S., at 730-743, 103 S.Ct., at 2658-2665. In this case, however, whether Montana has one district or two, its variance from the ideal will exceed 40 percent.
The constitutional guarantee of a minimum of one Representative for each State inexorably compels a significant departure from the ideal. In Alaska, Vermont, and Wyoming, where the statewide districts are less populous than the ideal district, every vote is more valuable than the national average. Moreover, the need to allocate a fixed number of indivisible Representatives among 50 States of varying populations makes it virtually impossible to have the same size district in any pair of States, let alone in all 50. Accordingly, although "common sense" supports a test requiring "a good-faith effort to achieve precise mathematical equality" within each State, Kirkpatrick v. Preisler, 394 U.S., at 530-531, 89 S.Ct., at 1228-1229, the constraints imposed by Article I, § 2, itself make that goal illusory for the Nation as a whole.
The District Court suggested that the automatic character43 of the application of the method of equal proportions, was inconsistent with Congress' responsibility to make a fresh legislative decision after each census.44 We find no merit in this suggestion. Indeed, if a set formula is otherwise constitutional, it seems to us that the use of a procedure that is administered efficiently and that avoids partisan controversy supports the legitimacy of congressional action, rather than undermining it. To the extent that the potentially divisive and complex issues associated with apportionment can be narrowed by the adoption of both procedural and substantive rules that are consistently applied year after year, the public is well served, provided, of course, that any such rule remains open to challenge or change at any time. We see no constitutional obstacle preventing Congress from adopting such a sensible procedure.
The decision to adopt the method of equal proportions was made by Congress after decades of experience, experimentation, and debate about the substance of the constitutional requirement. Independent scholars supported both the basic decision to adopt a regular procedure to be followed after each census, and the particular decision to use the method of equal proportions.45 For a half century the results of that method have been accepted by the States and the Nation. That history supports our conclusion that Congress had ample power to enact the statutory procedure in 1941 and to apply the method of equal proportions after the 1990 census.
775 F.Supp. 1358, 1366 (Mont.1991).
Id., &Par; 28-29.
Having granted summary judgment on the first claim, the District Court found it unnecessary to reach the merits of the claim relating to the automatic method of apportionment. 775 F.Supp., at 1366.
Montana alleged that the "method of the harmonic mean" or the "method of smallest divisors" would yield a fairer result. Subsequent to the decision below, a district court in Massachusetts rejected a challenge to Congress' adoption of the method of equal proportions. In that litigation, Massachusetts plaintiffs asserted that the superiority of another method, that of "major fractions," demonstrated that the method of equal proportions was unconstitutional. Massachusetts v. Mosbacher, Civ.Action No. 91-11234-WD, --- F.Supp. ---- (Mass., Feb. 20, 1992).
The first and second requirements are set forth explicitly in Article I, § 2, of the Constitution. The requirement that districts not cross State borders appears to be implicit in the text and has been recognized by continuous historical practice. See 775 F.Supp., at 1365, n. 4; id., at 1368 (O'Scannlain, J., dissenting).
Section 2, cl. 3, required an enumeration of the population to be made within three years after the first meeting of Congress and provided that "until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to choose three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New-York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three."
See M. Balinski & H. Young, Fair Representation, Meeting the Ideal of One Man, One Vote 10-13 (1982) (hereinafter Balinski & Young).
The 1802 apportionment Act continued the ratio of 33,000, which then corresponded to a House of 141 Members. Act of Jan. 14, 1802, 2 Stat. 128. The third apportionment established a ratio of 35,000, which provided a House of 181 Members. Act of Dec. 21, 1811, 2 Stat. 669. The 1822 apportionment Act increased the ratio to 40,000 and the size of the House to 213. Act of Mar. 7, 1822, 3 Stat. 651. The 1832 apportionment Act provided for 240 districts representing an average of 47,700 persons each. Act of May 22, 1832, 4 Stat. 516. See generally L. Schmeckebier, Congressional Apportionment 111-113 (1941).
See Balinski & Young 73-75.
Act of May 23, 1850, §§ 24-26, 9 Stat. 432-433. Under the Hamilton/Vinton method, the Nation's population was divided by the size of the House (set at 233 in 1850) to determine the ratio of persons per Representative. This ratio was then divided into the population of a State to establish its quota. Each State would receive the number of Representatives corresponding to the whole number of the quota (ignoring the fractional remainders). The remaining seats necessary to bring the nationwide total to the proper size (233 in 1850) would then be distributed to the States with the largest fractional remainders. In practice, the method was not strictly followed. See Balinski & Young 37; Chafee, Congressional Reapportionment, 42 Harv.L.Rev. 1015, 1025 (1929).
The Hamilton/Vinton method was subject to the "Alabama paradox," a mathematical phenomenon in which a State's number of Representatives may decrease when the size of the House is increased. See Balinski & Young 38-40; Chafee, Congressional Reapportionment, 42 Harv.L.Rev., at 1026.
The 1911 statute actually specified 433 Representatives but authorized an additional Representative for Arizona and New Mexico when they were admitted to the Union. See 37 Stat. 13. Additional Representatives were also authorized when Alaska and Hawaii were admitted to the Union in 1959, but the number thereafter reverted to 435, where it has remained ever since. See 72 Stat. 345; 73 Stat. 8.
Each of the methods corresponds to a different formula for producing a "priority list." A priority list is the mechanical method used in modern apportionments to translate a particular method of apportionment into a particular assignment of Representatives. The technical process of forming the priority list proceeds as follows. First, one Representative is assigned to each State to satisfy the constitutional guarantee. Second, the population of each State is divided by a certain tabulated series of divisors. Third, the quotients for all the States are arranged in a single series in order of size, beginning with the largest quotient, for the 51st Member of the House. This forms the priority list. The series of quotients is different for each of the five apportionment methods. See Chafee, Congressional Reapportionment, 42 Harv.L.Rev., at 1029, n. 39.
Smallest Divisors: n - 1
2(n-1)n
Harmonic Mean: --------
(n-1)+n
Equal Proportions: \/ n(n-1)
Major Fractions: n - 1/2
2 x 2 2 x 2 2 x 2 2 x 2
Harmonic Mean: -------- , -------- , -------- , --------
Equal Proportions: \/ 2x1, \/ 3x2, \/ 4x3, \/ 5x4
Major Fractions: 3/2, 5/2, 7/2, 9/2
(divisor: (divisor;
n -1 = 1 n -1 = 2
(divisor: (divisor:
California 14,919,625 9,946,317
"The relative difference between two numbers consists of subtracting the smaller number from the larger number and then dividing the result by the smaller number." 1 App. 24 (Ernst Declaration).
See id., at 19. The committee considered only the extent to which each method favored the small or large States in comparison to the other methods. The committee did not attempt to determine absolute bias. Some scholars have asserted that in absolute terms, the method of equal proportions favors small States over large States and that the method of major fractions is the method with the least inherent bias between small and large States. See Balinski & Young 72-78. That contention has been disputed. See Massachusetts v. Mosbacher, Civ.Action No. 91-11234-WD, --- F.Supp. ---- - ---- (Mass., Feb. 20, 1992), p. 57.
2 App. 35.
Not only is the composition of the House of Representatives implicated by the case, but also the composition of the electoral college that elects the President. That college includes representation from each State equivalent to the sum of its Senators and Representatives. U.S. Const., Art. II, § 1, cl. 2.
Under the Hill method (equal proportions), the relative differences between Montana's and Washington's districts and the ideal, respectively, are 40.4% and 5.4%; under the Dean method (harmonic mean) they are 42.5% and 6.7%. See 1 App. 27.
Average Difference Difference
District Size From Ideal From Ideal
Indeed, as Washington has more districts than Montana, it could be argued that deviation from ideal district size in Washington represents a more significant departure from the goal of equal representation than does a similar deviation in Montana. In his dissent in the District Court, Judge O'Scannlain noted the potential importance of taking account of the number of districts in a State, rather than merely the average size of a district. See 775 F.Supp., at 1371.
Some evidence suggests that partisan political concerns may have influenced Congress' initial decision to adopt the equal proportions method in 1941. The choice of this method resulted in the assignment of an additional seat to Arkansas, a Democratic State, rather than to Michigan, a State with more Republican leanings. The vote to adopt equal proportions was along party lines (except for the Democrats from Michigan, who opposed the bill). See Balinski & Young 57-58; see also 775 F.Supp., at 1365. Nevertheless, although Congress has considered the apportionment problem periodically since 1941, it has not altered that initial choice. See Massachusetts v. Mosbacher, Civ.Action No. 91-11234-WD, --- F.Supp. ----, ---- - ----, (Mass., Feb. 20, 1992), pp. 40-42. Montana does not contend that the equal proportions method systematically favors a particular party, nor that its retention over a 50-year period reflects efforts to maintain partisan political advantage.
See 775 F.Supp., at 1366.
In his article on Congressional Reapportionment, written in 1929, Zechariah Chafee, Jr., wrote:
"[B]oth mathematical and political reasons point to the Method of Equal Proportions as the best plan for a just apportionment. . . . Congress has power to delegate the task to the president or other high official, if the size of the House and the method be definitely indicated. . . . It is very desirable that this permanent plan should embody the best method now known, so that it may operate for many decades without constant demands for revision. Congress will then no longer need to engage in prolonged debates and committee hearings every ten years. Reapportionment will be taken out of politics." 42 Harv.L.Rev., at 1047.