Court Opinion

ID: 9750617
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 15:11:53.290419+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:26:14.458559
License: Public Domain

WALTER E. HOFFMAN, District Judge
(dissenting).
With deference and respect to my learned colleagues, I must dissent.
In 1931 the late Mr. Justice Holmes, speaking for the Court in Bain Peanut Co. v. Pinson, 282 U.S. 499, 501, 51 S.Ct. 228, 229, 75 L.Ed. 482 said:
“We must remember that the machinery of government would not work if it were not allowed a little play in its joints.”
Unlike the legislatures of many states, Virginia has reapportioned the senatorial and house districts in accordance with the mandate of Sec. 43 of the Vir-. ginia Constitution, i. e., in the year 1932 and every ten years thereafter. Admittedly the task of reapportionment is a difficult one and, while discrimination is now apparent when considered in the light of population alone, I am unwilling at this moment to say that it is “invidious”. Nor am I able to conclude in law and in fact that Virginia’s 1962 Reapportionment Act constitutes “arbitrary and capricious state action” offensive to the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment in the absence of further guidance from the highest court of our nation or state. In my judgment the decision of the majority places too much emphasis upon the weighted vote of one county, city, or district as contrasted with the weighted vote in another county, city or district.
The landmark decision in Baker v. Carr, 369 U.S. 186, 82 S.Ct. 691, 7 L.Ed. 2d 663, was handed down on March 26, 1962. The opinion of the Court, written by Mr. Justice Brennan, consumes 55 pages. Separate concurring opinions by Mr. Justice Douglas, Mr. Justice Clark, and Mr. Justice Stewart require 25 pages. Dissenting opinions by Mr. Justice Frankfurter and Mr. Justice Harlan are contained within 83 pages. It is indeed difficult for judges and attorneys to fully understand the impact of Baker v. Carr — to say nothing of legislators upon whom the primary responsibility of reapportionment rests.
The General Assembly of Virginia convened in regular session during January, 1962. It meets every two years. While the specific Acts, now held to be unconstitutional by the majority, were not approved by the Governor until April 7, 1962, the General Assembly had ceased transacting its legislative business several weeks prior thereto. Thus, when Baker v. Carr was decided, the General Assembly was no longer in session. The Governor, in approving H.B. 250 and S.B. 145, took cognizance of the decision but concluded that “the recent Tennessee case need not be cause for alarm in Virginia”. While I cannot agree that the entire matter may be dismissed so summarily, I am of the opinion that the federal court should abstain in order to permit the removal of the existing disparities on the state level.
This is not to suggest that the General Assembly has not already had an opportunity to correct defects in apportionment at the 1962 regular session. The Report of the Commission on Redistricting made substantial progress in adjusting the inequities, but the General Assembly did not see fit to follow this report other than in two or three instances. However that may be, the General Assembly was not confronted with Baker v. Carr, and the subsequent decisions at that time. At a later date more mature consideration would undoubtedly bring about adjustments.
Plainly there is not complete unanimity of opinion in Baker v. Carr. As *587Mr. Justice Stewart said in his concurring opinion, (369 U.S. 186, 82 S.Ct. 691, 7 L.Ed.2d 663):
“The Court today decides three things and no more: ‘(a) that the court possessed jurisdiction of the subject matter; (b) that a justiciable cause of action is stated upon which appellants would be entitled to appropriate relief; and (c) * * that the appellants have standing to challenge the Tennessee apportionment statutes.’
* * * * * *
“Contrary to "the suggestion of my Brother Harlan, the Court does not say or imply that ‘state legislatures must be so structured as to reflect with approximate equality the voice of every voter.’ * * * The Court does not say or imply that there is anything in the Federal Constitution ‘to prevent a State, acting not irrationally, from choosing any electoral legislative structure it thinks best suited to the interests, temper, and customs of its people.’ * * * And contrary to the suggestion of my Brother Douglas, the Court most assuredly does not decide the question, ‘may a State weight the vote of one county or one district more heavily than it weights the vote in another ?’ ”
The effect of today’s decision will open the floodgates to litigation which may be continuous. The majority acknowledges that “there may be other districts also disadvantaged by the reapportionment”. Indeed there are although, as yet, they have not seen fit to attack the constitutionality of the Acts in controversy. Accepting the premise that an ideal representation of one Senator is 99,174 persons, and conceding that there are 11 senatorial districts which are rather obviously over-represented, where is the stopping point?
By way of illustration:
District Population No. of Population Senators per Senator
Accomack Northampton Princess Anne Virginia Beach 131,816 1 131,816
Franklin (County) Montgomery Radford Roanoke County 129,912 1 129,912
Newport News] York County j 135,245 1 135,245
The foregoing compare somewhat favorably with the population per Senator in Fairfax which is 142,597, and which is designated as comprising Fairfax County, Fairfax City and Falls Church. The Senate disparity in the City of Norfolk (152,435) and County of Arlington (163,401) is, of course, greater.
Turning to the House of Delegates we find the ideal representation per Delegate to be 39,669 persons. As pointed out by the majority, there are 20 districts which are favored and which vary from “the ideal” by at least 25%. There are likewise districts, which, along with the plaintiffs herein, are subjected to disparity. For example:
*588District Delegates Population Population per Delegate
Botetourt 1 Roanoke County [ Craig J 1 81,764 81,764
Chesterfield Colonial Heights. !' i 80,784 80,784
Hampton 1 89,258 • 89,258
Portsmouth 2 114,773 57,386
No attempt has been made to cite the Delegate disparity in certain other districts, apparently under-represented, but which are included in more than one district under the 1962 Act. They are:
Amherst and Lynchburg Henrico
Isle of Wight, Nansemond and Suffolk
Lynchburg
Roanoke County
It is sufficient to note, however, that the following districts have more cause to complain as to disparity in the House of Delegates than either Arlington or Norfolk, two of the three plaintiffs in this action:
Botetourt, Craig and Roanoke County
Chesterfield and Colonial Heights
Hampton
Portsmouth
The interlocutory order to be entered in this case will afford Virginia two alternatives — appeal to the United States Supreme Court or the convening of an extra session of the General Assembly. If the extra session is convened, the appeal will be moot. Assuming arguendo that later reapportionment takes care of the needs of Fairfax, Arlington and Norfolk, the additional representatives must be taken from other areas. We would undoubtedly be faced with further litigation as to any county, city or district where the deviation is beyond 25% of the ideal. Granting relief at this time without sufficient guideposts to govern •our action establishes a dangerous precedent.
For all practical purposes this case is decided upon the exhibits and the testimony of a representative of the Bureau of Public Administration, an agency of the University of Virginia. In the report of the Bureau to the Governor’s Commission on Redistricting, dated July 10, 1961, it is said:
“It is recommended that the deviation from the ideal size be as little as possible, with most deviations within 15 per cent of ideal size, and exceptions in the most difficult situations within 25 per cent. It is indeed difficult, if not impossible, to justify deviations beyond 25 per cent.”
I have no quarrel with the author of that statement — it may be correct — but before approving or disapproving it is my view that a three-judge federal court should be fortified with more authoritative statements as to what constitutes “invidious” discrimination or “arbitrary and capricious state action”. Admittedly the population has — and will in the future — be the predominant factor in determining equality of representation. The majority concludes that the plaintiffs have proved the inequity of the allotment of representatives, on the basis of population alone. I agree. While the burden of going forward with the evidence may then pass to the defendants, the mere failure to disprove discrimination by population does not, in my opinion, establish “invidious” discrimination when Virginia’s overall picture is reviewed. It should be remembered that every intendment must be re*589solved in favor of constitutionality and the burden of showing unconstitutionality is on those who assail it. McGowan v. Maryland, 366 U.S. 420, 425-426, 81 S.Ct. 1101, 6 L.Ed.2d 393; Metropolitan Casualty Ins. Co. v. Brownell, 294 U.S. 580, 584, 55 S.Ct. 538, 79 L.Ed. 1070; Toombs v. Fortson, 205 F.Supp. 248, 256. Proof of discrimination is not, standing alone, sufficient.
While the constitutional requirements of the State of New York differ from those in Virginia, it is significant that a three-judge federal court in New York recently upheld the apportionment of the Senate and Assembly districts in W. M. C. A., Inc. v. Simon, D.C., 208 F.Supp. 368, where the weighted vote demonstrates a far greater disparity than that which exists in Virginia.
In summary, I view the decision of the majority as, at the very least, intimating that proof of disparity in population is all that is needed. It is contrary to what was said in MacDougall v. Green, 335 U.S. 281, 283, 69 S.Ct. 1, 2, 93 L.Ed. 3:
“To assume that political power is a function exclusively of numbers is to disregard the practicalities of government.”
In the exercise of our discretionary power as a court of equity and in the public interest, I would retain jurisdiction of this case pending appropriate action in the state courts of Virginia. Pennsylvania v. Williams, 294 U.S. 176, 55 S.Ct. 380, 79 L.Ed. 841. This is true even though the rights asserted are strictly federal in origin, Hawks v. Hamill, 288 U.S. 52, 53 S.Ct. 240, 77 L.Ed. 610. I •can visualize no more delicate a field for the federal courts to refrain from •entering, especially where the overall representativeness is as great as in Virginia.
Virginia stands eighth in the nation in an index of representativeness among state legislatures as prepared by the Bureau of Public Administration of the University of Virginia subsequent to the passage of the 1962 Act. More proportionate representation is available only in Oregon, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, West Virginia, Maine, Wisconsin and Alaska. In determining whether the 1962 Reapportionment Act constitutes “arbitrary and capricious state action” or, as described by the majority, “invidious” discrimination, are we to look at the entire pattern of apportionment or should we only consider apportionment of one district as against another? These are, in my judgment, unanswered questions.
One must look to the background of Baker v. Carr in order to arrive at the reason for the conclusion reached by the United States Supreme Court. Tennessee’s Constitution provided a standard for allocating legislative representation among the several counties or districts according to the total number of qualified voters residing in the respective counties. Decennial reapportionment was likewise required. For a period of 60 years since 1901, all proposals for reapportionment were defeated in both Houses of the General Assembly. There was no provision for initiative and referendum. The constitutional convention route was thwarted by the Assembly where the call must originate. Of particular significance is the fact that the voters endeavored to proceed in the Tennessee Courts without success. These efforts, among others, caused Mr. Justice Clark to say (369 U.S. 259, 82 S.Ct. 732):
“I have searched diligently for other ‘practical opportunities’ present under the law. I find none other than through the federal courts.”
It was as a last resort that Mr. Justice Clark would “consider intervention by this Court into so delicate a field”. Simply stated there was no other relief available to the people of Tennessee.
That state courts are open to voters seeking reapportionment rights under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and Civil Rights Act is plain. Scholle v. Hare, 369 U.S. 429, 82 S.Ct. 910, 8 L.Ed.2d 1, where the origin of the litigation was in the state *590court; Brown v. Saunders, 159 Va. 28, 166 S.E. 105, where the Supi-eme Court of Appeals of Virginia, held the Acts of Assembly-, 1932, to be void by reason of a division of the state into congressional districts as being in conflict with Section 55 of the Constitution of Virginia. And in Lein v. Sathre, 201 F.Supp. 535, a three-judge federal court in North Dakota stayed proceedings to afford an opportunity to the Supreme Court of North Dakota to pass upon questions arising under the North Dakota reapportionment provisions contained in its Constitution. As early as 1951, a three-judge federal court in Pennsylvania, Remmey v. Smith, 102 F.Supp. 708, 711, app. dism. 342 U.S. 916, 72 S.Ct. 368, 96 L.Ed. 685, speaking through Circuit Judge Biggs, stated in an action to declare an apportionment act unconstitutional:
“The determination which the plaintiffs would have us make lies in that extremely sensitive field, the relation of the powers of the National Government to those of the States. Here, of all places, a federal court should tread warily and with great circumspection and should forego any action where relief may be furnished by the State. This court should not intervene where an apparent, but untried, remedy may lie in the Courts of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”
I agree that there is no ambiguity in the particular statutes under consideration and they are not in need of interpretation per se. As construed in conjunction with Sections 41, 42 and 43 of the Virginia Constitution, a state court determination will, at the very least, furnish a guide for future action. I cannot agree that we should disregard the doctrine of abstention merely because the subject matter of the inquiry lies within the competence of a federal court sitting in Virginia; nor do I believe that ambiguity and need for interpretation constitute the only basis for resorting to abstention. There are numerous cases where abstention has been sanctioned on grounds of comity with the States in order to avoid a result in “needless friction with State policies”. Railroad Com. of Texas v. Pullman Co., 312 U.S. 496, 61 S.Ct. 643, 85 L.Ed. 971; Pennsylvania v. Williams, supra. That the United States Supreme Court favors the doctrine of abstention is apparent from its more recent decisions. Harrison v. NAACP, 360 U.S. 167, 79 S.Ct. 1025, 3 L.Ed.2d 1152; Louisiana Power & Light Co. v. Thibodaux, 360 U.S. 25, 79 S.Ct. 1070, 3 L.Ed.2d 1058; Martin v. Creasy, 360 U.S. 219, 79 S.Ct. 1034, 3 L.Ed.2d 1186. Of the four cases decided on June 8, 1959, involving the doctrine of abstention, only in County of Alleghany v. Frank Mashuda Co., 360 U.S. 185, 79 S.Ct. 1060, 3 L.Ed.2d 1163, did the Supreme Court reject abstention and the initial paragraph of the opinion pointedly suggests that the ease “would not entail the possibility of a premature and perhaps unnecessary decision of a serious federal constitutional question, would not create the hazard of unsettling some delicate balance in the area of federal-state relationships, and would not even require the District Court to guess at the resolution of uncertain and difficult issues of state law.”
Since Baker v. Carr there have been only two cases, from which it appears that the doctrine of abstention was affirmatively raised, where the court declined to abstain. In Toombs v. Fortson, 205 F.Supp. 248, a three-judge federal court in Georgia elected to dispose of the entire case without “leaving part of it in limbo pending a later decision by a State Court”. Such is not this case. I do not agree with that portion of the opinion in Toombs v. Fortson which intimates that Baker v. Carr has held that the doctrine of abstention should be ignored in apportionment cases. Likewise in Sanders v. Gray, D.C., 203 F.Supp. 158, a three-judge federal court in Georgia, composed of two of the three judges sitting in Toombs, held that there was no adequate state remedy in view of the holding of the Supreme Court of Georgia in Cox v. Peters (1951) 208 Ga. 498, 67 S.E.2d 579.
*591Unlike Lisco v. McNichols, D.C., 208 F.Supp. 471, where the General Assembly of Colorado had repeatedly refused to apportion in accordance with the Colorado Constitution, Virginia has reapportioned at ten year intervals as required by the bare wording of her Constitution. To prevent a multitude of actions which will undoubtedly result following any hasty reapportionment at any extra session of the General Assembly of Virginia, the entire matter may be resolved by retaining jurisdiction and relegating the parties to the state court for a decision under Virginia’s Declaratory Judgment Act.
Wisconsin, a state which claims greater proportionate representativeness than Virginia, has been involved in recent apportionment litigation. Wisconsin v. Zimmerman, 209 F.Supp. 183. Expressing a reluctance to enter orders or directives in such a case, the three-judge federal court dismissed the action without prejudice to the rights of plaintiffs to again file suit after August 1, 1963. The Court noted that a great disparity in population did exist, although not comparable with Tennessee. The action by the federal court in Wisconsin was taken despite the fact that (1) the Wisconsin Supreme Court “had again denied relief”, (2) the 1961 legislature did not comply with the requirements of the state constitution, (3) the 1962 special session did nothing to afford relief, and (4) the next session of the legislature would not convene until January, 1963.
We are told that the element of time compels us to act. It is quite true that candidates for the House and Senate must announce their intention by April 15, 1963, if their names are to be considered in any primary election next July. Unless a candidate elects to proceed by way of mandamus in the Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia— as was done in Brown v. Saunders, supra —it is a foregone conclusion that a proceeding under the Virginia Declaratory Judgment Act would not reach the highest court of the State until after the 1963 general election. At that time members of the House and Senate would be elected under the 1962 Reapportionment Act. If the regular session of the General Assembly failed to take appropriate action, the state court, or federal court, if necessary, could then act. If the 1962 Act is unconstitutional, there is no security of office afforded to the members of the General Assembly. They would, of course, remain as a legislative body for the purpose of doing what the majority opinion now compels them to do in the absence of an appeal.
If they fail to adhere to their constitutional duty, the 1962 Act does not become constitutional by mere inaction. When we balance the equities, it is certainly more appropriate to permit the General Assembly of Virginia to maturely consider the vital issue of voter representation in the light of Baker v. Carr and subsequent decisions, rather than to force hasty action which has been known to bring about the enactment of obviously unconstitutional measures. While I would favor the doctrine of abstention to permit the state court to initially determine the questions at hand, as a final alternative I would continue this case until thirty days following the adjournment of the next regular or extra session of the General Assembly of Virginia.
In the event the defendants do not see fit to appeal from the order to be entered pursuant to the majority opinion, and if the General Assembly is not convened in extra session by the Governor, the only alternative will be for this Court to reapportion the State in conformity with legal standards. While I agree that this may be done where the legislature fails to act, it would undoubtedly result in the adoption of Plan “A” (with minor exceptions) which is substantially a mathematical computation according to population, with a maximum deviation of twenty-four per cent. Certainly this Court has nothing else upon which to base its action. When we consider other states, such as New York, Maryland and Hawaii, where the concentration of population is in one major city, it may be *592inappropriate to rely so heavily upon population. With the trend of population in Virginia toward urban development, the voting power in this State may soon be vested in the cities. It may benefit Virginia as a whole, but this decision should rest with its elected representatives and not with a federal court.
A new approach created by new decisions should give rise to action with “deliberate speed” in protecting constitutional rights of those who are subjected to discrimination, but it does not necessarily mean that such discrimination must be corrected forthwith.