Court Opinion

ID: 9842001
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-22 20:12:19.009944+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:09:00.145271
License: Public Domain

Mr. Justice Marshall, with whom Mr. Justice Brennan joins,
dissenting.
The Court today holds that a State may strip ex-felons who have fully paid their debt to society of their fundamental right to vote without running afoul of the Fourteenth Amendment. This result is, in my view, based on an unsound historical analysis which already has been rejected by this Court. In straining to reach that result, I believe that the Court has also disregarded important limitations on its jurisdiction. For these reasons, I respectfully dissent.
I
A brief retracing of the procedural history of this case is necessary to a full understanding of my views. Each of the respondents, the plaintiffs below,1 had been con*57victed of a felony unrelated to voting and had fully served his term of incarceration and parole. Each applied to register to vote in his respective county — Ramirez in San Luis Obispo County, Lee in Monterey County, and Gill in Stanislaus County. All three were refused registration because, under applicable provisions of the California Constitution, “no person convicted of any infamous crime ... shall ever exercise the privileges of an elector.”2
The three named plaintiffs filed a petition for a writ of mandate in the California Supreme Court, invoking its original jurisdiction. Plaintiffs challenged the State’s disenfranchisement of ex-felons as being violative of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and sought issuance of a peremptory writ of mandate to compel their registration. The complaint labeled the suit as brought “individually and on behalf of all other persons who are ineligible to register to vote in California solely by reason of a conviction of a felony other than an election code felony” and who had fully served their terms of incarceration and parole. The complaint named, as defendants, the election officials who had refused to register them, “individually and as representatives of the class of all other County Clerks and Registrars of Voters who have the duty of determining for their respective counties whether any ex-felon will be denied the right to vote.”
*58The three named election officials did not contest the action and represented to the state court that they would permit the named plaintiffs and all similarly situated ex-felons in their counties to register and to vote. The representative of the Secretary of State of California, also named as a defendant, has similarly agreed not to contest the suit.3 At this point in the litigation all of the named plaintiffs had been voluntarily afforded the relief they were seeking by the election officials in their respective counties.
Subsequently, the petitioner in this Court, Viola Richardson, as County Clerk of Mendocino County, filed a motion to intervene in the proceedings before the California Supreme Court. She indicated to the court that she was being sued in a separate action in a lower state court by an ex-felon seeking to register in her county and that the decision in this case would be dispositive of the legal issue in that controversy. The State Supreme Court ordered Richardson added as a named defendant in the instant action, but did not name the ex-felon suing her as a plaintiff or named class representative herein.
In its opinion, the California Supreme Court found the case not to be moot and took the opportunity to address the merits of the Fourteenth Amendment issue. It indicated that, in its view, the ex-felon disenfranchisement provision of the California Constitution and its implementing statutes violated the Equal Protection Clause. The state court did not, however, afford the plaintiffs the relief they sought. The court denied the peremptory writ of mandate.
Although the California Supreme Court did not issue a writ ordering Richardson to register either the ex-felon *59suing her or any other potential elector in her county, she sought review of the state court's decision by way of writ of certiorari in this Court. The election officials in the named plaintiffs’ counties did not seek review and the Secretary of State filed a memorandum opposing review by this Court. J
A
There are a number of reasons why I do not believe this case is properly before us at this time. First, I am persuaded that the judgment of the California Supreme Court rests on an adequate and independent state ground.
“This Court from the time of its foundation has adhered to the principle that it will not review judgments of state courts that rest on adequate and independent state grounds. . . . Our only power over state judgments is to correct them to the extent that they incorrectly adjudge federal rights. Andvour power is to correct wrong judgments, not to revise opinions. We are not permitted to render an advisory opinion, and if the same judgment would be rendered by the state court after we corrected its views of federal laws, our review could amount to nothing more than an advisory opinion.” Herb v. Pitcairn, 324 U. S. 117, 125-126 (1945).
Plaintiffs sought, from the California Supreme Court, a writ of mandate compelling their registration. The state court denied that relief. The entirety of the judgment of that court is as follows:
“The alternative writ, having served its purpose, is discharged, and the petition for peremptory writ is denied.” Ramirez v. Brown, 9 Cal. 3d 199, 217, 507 P. 2d 1345, 1357 (1973).4
*60The accompanying opinion indicates that the California court did not consider the case before it to be moot and that, in its view, the plaintiffs’ assertion that the disenfranchisement provisions were unconstitutional was well taken. Since the court nonetheless denied plaintiffs the relief they sought, we can only conclude that it did so on independent state law grounds. Cf. Brockington v. Rhodes, 396 U. S. 41, 44 (1969). For example, a writ of mandate being discretionary, the state court may have declined its issuance simply because the named plaintiffs had already been registered and mandate relief seemed unnecessary.5 There is certainly no indication that the decision to deny the writ was based on the state court’s view on any federal question.
This Court creates an interesting anomaly by purporting to reverse the judgment of the California court. Since that court denied a writ of mandate to compel the registration of ex-felons, the only disposition consistent with this Court’s view that the California disenfranchisement provisions are constitutional would be to affirm the judgment below. By reversing, the Court apparently directs the issuance of the peremptory writ. This anomaly demonstrates that this is a classic example of a case where "the same judgment would be rendered by the state court after we corrected its views of federal laws,” Herb v. Pitcairn, supra, at 126; hence we can but offer an advisory opinion here. Whether we agree or disagree with the state court’s view of the constitutionality of the challenged provisions, the judgment of the state court will necessarily remain to deny the writ of mandate.
The Court is aware of this problem and purports to resolve it by speculating that the California court may *61have afforded plaintiffs declaratory relief. Such speculation is totally unfounded. Neither the opinion nor the judgment of the court below even mentions declaratory relief. The plaintiffs did not seek a declaratory judgment. The California Constitution on its face appears to bar the State Supreme Court from issuing a declaratory judgment in an original proceeding such as the one before us, since it limits that court's original jurisdiction to “proceedings for extraordinary relief in the nature of mandamus, certiorari, and prohibition.” Calif. Const., Art. 6, § 10 (Supp. 1974). Exclusive jurisdiction for suits seeking declaratory relief is vested, by statute, in the State Superior Courts.6
This Court’s basis for construing the judgment of the court below as affording declaratory relief is its argument that because the California Supreme Court is the highest court of the State, its observations on the constitutionality of the challenged disenfranchisement provisions are apt to be heeded by state officials. It is true that the opinion of the California court did indicate a view on the merits of the plaintiffs’ constitutional claim. But this Court’s power “is to correct wrong judgments, not to revise opinions.” Herb v. Pitcairn, supra, at 126. One could always argue that where a state court had commented on a matter of federal law, state officials would heed those comments. To say that such comments are a “declaration of federal law” reviewable by this Court is a rationale that would reach every case in which the state court decision rests on adequate *62state grounds, rendering that doctrine a virtual nullity. The Court also cites two cases for the proposition that the California Supreme Court can issue a declaratory judgment in an original proceeding. But, on closer inspection, the cases cited by the Copt, ante, at 41 n. 13, merely demonstrate that California courts, whose jurisdiction is not limited by any equivalent to Art. Ill, are free to render advisory opinions.7 There is little doubt *63that many public officials would heed such an advisory opinion from the California Supreme Court and they would also heed an advisory opinion issued by this Court, but that does not free us from the constitutional limitations on our jurisdiction.
Because I believe that the judgment of the California court was based on adequate and independent state grounds, I do not think we have jurisdiction to consider any other issues presented by this case.
B
Assuming, arguendo, that the California Supreme Court did grant a declaratory judgment, I still believe that we are without jurisdiction because no case or controversy is presented. The Court seems willing to concede that the claims of the named plaintiffs may well be moot. Ante, at 36. The Court, however, premises its *64jurisdiction on the assumption that there is a live controversy between the named petitioner in this Court and the unnamed plaintiff class members in her own county. To reach this conclusion, it is essential for the Court to conclude that this case is, in fact, a class action and that, in the circumstances of this case, it is appropriate to look to unnamed class members to determine whether there is a live controversy.
I am forced to point out that one of the crucial premises upon which the Court bases its assumption of jurisdiction — the existence of a class action — is highly speculative. I am persuaded that the California court never treated this case as a class action. As the majority notes, the case was titled a class action by its originators and the show-cause order merely tracked the language of the complaint. But the California court was, of course, not bound by that designation. In the entirety of its lengthy opinion, the California court does not once refer to this suit as a class action, to respondents as class representatives, to the existence of unnamed parties or to any other indicia of class-action status. Rather, the state court describes the case as simply “a proceeding for writ of mandate brought by three ex-felons to compel respondent election officials to register them as voters.” 9 Cal. 3d, at 201, 507 P. 2d, at 1346. The opinion proceeds to list the three plaintiffs and, in a footnote, to explain that the only other plaintiffs were the League of Women Voters and three nonprofit organizations which support the interests of ex-felons. The opinion describes the defendants as the election officials of San Luis Obispo, Monterey, and Stanislaus Counties and the Secretary of State “in his capacity [as] chief elections officer of California,” and notes that “[u]pon application we ordered the Mendocino County clerk [the petitioner here] joined as an additional party [defendant].” Id., at 202 n. 1, 507 P. 2d, at 1346 n. 1. This description of the parties *65plainly indicates that this suit was not treated as a class action by the state court. I think it highly inappropriate that on the basis of nothing but speculation, this case be fashioned into a class action, for the first time, in this Court.
C
Even assuming that this case is a class action, I still would not agree that it is properly before us. I do not believe that we can look beyond the named class members to find a case or controversy in the circumstances of this case. The Court seems to hold that review is not foreclosed by the possible mootness of the named plaintiffs’ claim because, but for the California Supreme Court’s decision, unnamed class members would still be subject to the challenged disenfranchisement, hence the case presents, as to unnamed class members, an issue capable of repetition, yet evading review. I disagree. As the Court properly notes, a general rule of justici-ability is that one may not represent a class of which he is not a part. Thus, as a general proposition, a federal court will not look to unnamed class members to establish the case-or-controversy requirement of Art. III.8 But, the “evading review” doctrine of Southern Pacific Terminal Co. v. ICC, 219 U. S. 498, 515 (1911), as recently applied in Dunn v. Blumstein, 405 U. S. 330, 333 n. 2 (1972), provides a limited exception to the general rule— an exception necessary to insure that judicial review is not foreclosed in cases where intervening events threaten invariably to moot the named plaintiff’s claim for relief.
*66The necessity for looking beyond the named class members in this limited category of cases is evidenced by our decision in Dunn v. Blumstein, supra, in which the Court struck down a durational residence requirement for voting. The suit had been brought to compel the registration of the named plaintiff and the members of the class he represented in order that they might participate in an election scheduled for August 6, 1970. The Federal District Court did not order preliminary relief in time for the August election and, by the time the District Court decided the case, the next election was scheduled for November 1970. By then, the named plaintiff would have met the challenged three-month requirement. The District Court, nonetheless, rejected the State’s argument that the controversy over the validity of the three-month requirement was therefore moot.
By the time the appeal reached this Court, the only named plaintiff had also satisfied the one-year state residence requirement. We nonetheless reached the merits, observing that “[although appellee [the only named plaintiff] now can vote, the problem to voters posed by the Tennessee residence requirements is ‘ “capable of repetition, yet evading review.” ’ Moore v. Ogilvie, 394 U. S. 814, 816 (1969).” 405 U. S., at 333 n. 2. Both this Court and the District Court found that, although the named plaintiff had satisfied the challenged residence requirements and would no longer be disenfranchised thereby, the case was not moot. The challenged requirement remained applicable to unnamed class members,9 and the *67issue presented was likely to evade review. Obviously the mere passage of a few months would invariably have rendered a challenge to the residence requirements by individual named plaintiffs moot — threatening virtually to foreclose judicial review.
A similar situation was presented in Roe v. Wade, 410 U. S. 113 (1973), relied on by the California court. We there held that although a woman who was not pregnant at the time the suit was filed did not have standing to challenge the constitutionality of the Texas abortion laws, a continuing controversy over the constitutionality of those laws existed as to a named plaintiff who was pregnant when the suit was filed, even though she may not have been pregnant at later stages of the appeal. We concluded that this case provided a classic example of an issue capable of repetition, yet evading review, hence the termination of the plaintiff’s pregnancy while the case was on appeal did not render the case moot— even though a woman whose pregnancy has ended is no more affected by the abortion laws than one who was not pregnant at the time the suit was filed. “[T]he . . . human gestation period is so short that . . . pregnancy will come to term before the usual appellate process is complete. If that termination makes a case moot, . . . appellate review will be effectively denied.” Id., at 125.
There are two common threads running through these cases — in each the challenged statute would continue to be applied, but the named plaintiff’s claim would inevitably mature into mootness pending resolution of the lawsuit. In Roe, the termination of pregnancy, in Dunn, the passage of the residence requirement period, and in other voting cases, the occurrence of an election,10 deprived *68the named plaintiff of a continuing controversy over the application of the challenged statute. In each instance, the mere passage of time threatened to insulate a constitutional deprivation from judicial review, and it is that danger which served as the rationale for rejecting suggestions of mootness. Where an invalid statute would thus continue to be applied simply because judicial review of a live controversy involving the named plaintiff was invariably foreclosed — the issue would be capable of repetition yet evading review.
Accordingly, the Southern Pacific doctrine requires the satisfaction of two tests in order to provide an answer to a suggestion of mootness. First, the claimed deprivation must, in fact, be “capable of repetition.” This element is satisfied where, even though the named plaintiff’s immediate controversy has been mooted by intervening events, either he or unnamed class members may continue to suffer the alleged constitutional deprivation in the future. The case before us clearly satisfies this first element of the Southern Pacific doctrine test. Since the California court declined to order any county clerk to *69register ex-felons, presumably the challenged disenfranchisement provisions could continue to be applied to unnamed class members in counties other than those in which the named plaintiffs reside.11
Second, the issue presented must be likely to evade review, but for invocation of the Southern Pacific doctrine. It is on the “evading review” element that the Court’s analysis fails. Because the claim raised in this case concerns not a time-related but rather a status-based deprivation, there is no issue evading review and no reason to look beyond the named plaintiffs.12 This is *70not a situation where, by the time a case reaches this Court, it will always be too late to grant the named plaintiff relief. If and when an ex-felon is refused access to the voting rolls because of his past criminal record, an intervening election will not moot his claim for relief and the status giving rise to his disenfranchisement will not inevitably terminate pending review.
There are clearly ways in which a challenge to the California disenfranchisement provisions could reach this Court. The California Supreme Court has not issued a writ of mandate compelling the registration of any ex-felon.13 If such a potential voter is, in fact, refused registration, a controversy suitable for resolution by this Court will be presented. The suit brought against petitioner Richardson, by an ex-felon resident of her own county, raising the same issues as those presented by this case, is presently pending in a California intermediate appellate court.14 In that case, petitioner Richardson did, in fact, deny the plaintiff registration because he was an ex-felon. Once that case completes its passage through the state courts, it could well serve as a vehicle for our review of the California disenfranchisement provisions. *71That is, of course, but one example of how the issue presented here could properly reach this Court. This case does not therefore benefit from the Southern Pacific doctrine’s authority to look to unnamed class members to establish a case or controversy.
That the California Supreme Court appears to have found the plaintiffs’ claims not to be moot does not detract from this conclusion since [e]ven in cases arising in the state courts, the question of mootness is a federal one which a federal court must resolve before it assumes jurisdiction.” North Carolina v. Rice, 404 U. S. 244, 246 (1971). Thus, unlike the Court, I am persuaded that we can look only to the named plaintiffs to satisfy the case-or-controversy requirement of Art. III.
D
The named plaintiffs here were registered only because the clerks in their counties had voluntarily abandoned an allegedly illegal practice of disenfranchising ex-felons, and we have said that “[m]ere voluntary cessation of allegedly illegal conduct does not moot a case; if it did, the courts would be compelled to leave ‘[t]he defendant . . . free to return to his old ways.’ . . . [But a] case might become moot if subsequent events made it absolutely clear that the allegedly wrongful behavior could not reasonably be expected to recur.” United States v. Concentrated Phosphate Export Assn., 393 U. S. 199, 203 (1968); accord, United States v. W. T. Grant Co., 345 U. S. 629, 632 (1953). Accordingly, whether the named plaintiffs have a live controversy with the clerks in their own counties would depend on the likelihood of future disenfranchisement.15 But we need not consider that question here be*72cause none of the election officials in the named plaintiffs’ counties sought review in this Court and none is now before us.
The sole petitioner before this Court is Viola Richardson. None of the named plaintiffs are residents of her county. While those named plaintiffs may or may not have a live controversy with the clerks in their own counties, they surely do not have one with petitioner Richardson. While Richardson may well have a live controversy with ex-felons in her own county over the validity of the disenfranchisement laws, those ex-felons are not before this Court, and she has no dispute with the named plaintiffs. In sum, there is no controversy between the parties before this Court. Petitioner Richardson seeks to use the named plaintiffs’ controversy with their own county clerks as a vehicle for this Court to issue an advisory opinion on the issue presented by the suit brought against her by an ex-felon in her own county. Such a decision would violate the “ 'oldest and most consistent thread in the federal law of justiciability . . . that the federal courts will not give advisory opinions.’ ” Flast v. Cohen, 392 U. S. 83, 96 (1968).
II
Since the Court nevertheless reaches the merits of the constitutionality of California’s disenfranchisement of ex-felons, I find it necessary to register my dissent on the merits as well. The Court construes § 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment as an express authorization for the States to disenfranchise former felons. Section 2 does except disenfranchisement for "participation in rebellion, or other crime” from the operation of its penalty provision. As the Court notes, however, there is little independent legislative history as to the crucial words “or *73other crime”; the proposed § 2 went to a joint committee containing only the phrase “participation in rebellion” and emerged with “or other crime” inexplicably tacked on.16 In its exhaustive review of the lengthy legislative history of the Fourteenth Amendment, the Court has come upon only one explanatory reference for the “other crimes” provision — a reference which is unilluminating at best.17
The historical purpose for § 2 itself is, however, relatively clear and, in my view, dispositive of this case. The Republicans who controlled the 39th Congress were concerned that the additional congressional representation of the Southern States which would result from the abolition of slavery might weaken their own political dominance.18 There were two alternatives available — either to limit southern representation, which was unacceptable on a long-term basis,19 or to insure that southern Negroes, sympathetic to the Republican cause, would be enfranchised; but an explicit grant of suffrage to Negroes was thought politically unpalatable at the time.20 Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment was the resultant com*74promise. It put Southern States to a choice — enfranchise Negro voters or lose congressional representation.21
The political motivation behind § 2 was a limited one. It had little to do with the purposes of the rest of the Fourteenth Amendment. As one noted commentator explained:
“ 'It became a part of the Fourteenth Amendment largely through the accident of political exigency rather than through the relation which it bore to the other sections of the Amendment.’ ”22 “[I]t
seems quite impossible to conclude that there was a clear and deliberate understanding in the House that § 2 was the sole source of national authority to protect voting rights, or that it expressly recognized the states’ power to deny or abridge the right to vote.”23
It is clear that § 2 was not intended and should not be construed to be a limitation on the other sections of the Fourteenth Amendment. Section 2 provides a special remedy — reduced representation — to cure a particular form of electoral abuse — the disenfranchisement of Negroes. There is no indication that the framers of the provisions intended that special penalty to be the exclusive remedy for all forms of electoral discrimination. This Court has repeatedly rejected that rationale. See Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U. S. 533 (1964); Carrington v. Rash, 380 U. S. 89 (1965).
Rather, a discrimination to which the penalty provision of § 2 is inapplicable must still be judged against the Equal Protection Clause of § 1 to determine whether judicial or congressional remedies should be invoked. *75That conclusion is compelled by this Court’s holding in Oregon v. Mitchell, 400 U. S. 112 (1970). Although § 2 excepts from its terms denial of the franchise not only to ex-felons but also to persons under 21 years of age, we held that the Congress, under § 5, had the power to implement the Equal Protection Clause by lowering the voting age to 18 in federal elections. As Mr. Justice Brennan, joined by Mr. Justice White, as well as myself, there observed, § 2 was intended as no more “than a remedy supplementary, and in some conceivable circumstances indispensable, to other congressional and judicial remedies available under §§ 1 and 5.” 400 U. S., at 278.
The Court’s references to congressional enactments contemporaneous to the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment, such as the Reconstruction Act and the readmission statutes, are inapposite. They do not explain the purpose for the adoption of § 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment. They merely indicate that disenfranchisement for participation in crime was not uncommon in the States at the time of the adoption of the Amendment. Hence, not surprisingly, that form of disenfranchisement was excepted from the application of the special penalty provision of § 2. But because Congress chose to exempt one form of electoral discrimination from the reduction-of-representation remedy provided by § 2 does not necessarily imply congressional approval of this disenfranchisement.24 By providing a special remedy for disenfran*76chisement of a particular class of voters in § 2, Congress did not approve all election discriminations to which the § 2 remedy was inapplicable, and such discriminations thus are not forever immunized from evolving standards of equal protection scrutiny. Cf. Shapiro v. Thompson, 394 U. S. 618, 638-639 (1969). There is no basis for concluding that Congress intended by § 2 to freeze the meaning of other clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the conception of voting rights prevalent at the time of the adoption of the Amendment. In fact, one form of disenfranchisement — one-year durational residence requirements — specifically authorized by the Reconstruction Act, one of the contemporaneous enactments upon which the Court relies to show the intendment of the framers of the Fourteenth Amendment, has already been declared unconstitutional by this Court in Dunn v. Blumstein, 405 U. S. 330 (1972).
Disenfranchisement for participation in crime, like durational residence requirements, was common at the time of the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment. But “constitutional concepts of equal protection are not immutably frozen like insects trapped in Devonian amber.” Dillenburg v. Kramer, 469 F. 2d 1222, 1226 (CA9 1972). We have repeatedly observed:
“[T]he Equal Protection Clause is not shackled to the political theory of a particular era. In determining what lines are unconstitutionally discriminatory, we have never been confined to historic notions of equality, any more than we have restricted due process to a fixed catalogue of what was at a given time deemed *77to be the limits of fundamental rights.” Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections, 383 U. S. 663, 669 (1966).
Accordingly, neither the fact that several States had ex-felon disenfranchisement laws at the time of the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment, nor that such disenfranchisement was specifically excepted from the special remedy of § 2, can serve to insulate such disenfranchisement from equal protection scrutiny.
Ill
In my view, the disenfranchisement of ex-felons must be measured against the requirements of the Equal Protection Clause of § 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment. That analysis properly begins with the observation that because the right to vote “is of the essence of a democratic society, and any restrictions on that right strike at the heart of representative government,” Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U. S., at 555, voting is a “fundamental” right. As we observed in Dunn v. Blumstein, supra, at 336:
“There is no need to repeat now the labors undertaken in earlier cases to analyze [the] right to vote and to explain in detail the judicial role in reviewing state statutes that selectively distribute the franchise. In decision after decision, this Court has made clear that a citizen has a constitutionally protected right to participate in elections on an equal basis with other citizens in the jurisdiction. See, e.g., Evans v. Cornman, 398 U. S. 419, 421-422, 426 (1970); Kramer v. Union Free School District, 395 U. S. 621, 626-628 (1969); Cipriano v. City of Houma, 395 U. S. 701, 706 (1969); Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections, 383 U. S. 663, 667 (1966); Carrington v. Rash, 380 U. S. 89, 93-94 (1965); Reynolds v. Sims, supra.”
*78We concluded: “[I]f a challenged statute grants the right to vote to some citizens and denies the franchise to others, 'the Court must determine whether the exclusions are necessary to promote a compelling state interest. ” 405 U. S., at 337. (Emphasis in original.)
To determine that the compelling-state-interest test applies to the challenged classification is, however, to settle only a threshold question. “Compelling state interest” is merely a shorthand description of the difficult process of balancing individual and state interests that the Court must embark upon when faced with a classification touching on fundamental rights. Our other equal protection cases give content to the nature of that balance. The State has the heavy burden of showing, first, that the challenged disenfranchisement is necessary to a legitimate and substantial state interest; second, that the classification is drawn with precision — that it does not exclude too many people who should not and need not be excluded; and, third, that there are no other reasonable ways to achieve the State's goal with a lesser burden on the constitutionally protected interest. E. g., Dunn v. Blumstein, supra, at 343, 360; Kramer v. Union Free School District, 395 U. S. 621, 632 (1969); see Rosario v. Rockefeller, 410 U. S. 752, 770 (1973) (Powell, J., dissenting) ; cf. Memorial Hospital v. Maricopa County, 415 U. S. 250 (1974); NAACP v. Button, 371 U. S. 415, 438 (1963); Shelton v. Tucker, 364 U. S. 479, 488 (1960).
I think it clear that the State has not met its burden of justifying the blanket disenfranchisement of former felons presented by this case. There is certainly no basis for asserting that ex-felons have any less interest in the democratic process than any other citizen. Like everyone else, their daily lives are deeply affected and changed by the decisions of government. See Kramer, supra, at 627. As the Secretary of State of California observed in his *79memorandum to the Court in support of respondents in this case:
“It is doubtful... whether the state can demonstrate either a compelling or rational policy interest in denying former felons the right to vote. The individuals involved in the present case are persons who have fully paid their debt to society. They are as much affected by the actions of government as any other citizens, and have as much of a right to participate in governmental decision-making. Furthermore, the denial of the right to vote to such persons is a hindrance to the efforts of society to rehabilitate former felons and convert them into law-abiding and productive citizens.” 25
It is argued that disenfranchisement is necessary to prevent vote frauds. Although the State has a legitimate and, in fact, compelling interest in preventing election fraud, the challenged provision is not sustainable on that ground. First, the disenfranchisement provisions are patently both overinclusive and underin elusive. The provision is not limited to those who have demonstrated a marked propensity for abusing the ballot by violating election laws. Rather, it encompasses all former felons and there has been no showing that ex-felons generally are any more likely to abuse the ballot than the remainder of the population. See Dillenburg v. Kramer, 469 F. 2d, at 1225. In contrast, many of those convicted of violating election laws are treated as misdemeanants and are not barred from voting at all. It seems clear that the classification here is not tailored to achieve its articulated goal, since it crudely excludes large numbers of otherwise qualified voters. See Kramer v. Union Free *80School District, supra, at 632; Cipriano v. City of Houma, 395 U. S. 701, 706 (1969).
Moreover, there are means available for the State to prevent voting fraud which are far less burdensome on the constitutionally protected right to vote. As we said in Dunn, supra, at 353, the State “has at its disposal a variety of criminal laws that are more than adequate to detect and deter whatever fraud may be feared.” Cf. Harman v. Forssenius, 380 U. S. 528, 543 (1965); Schneider v. State, 308 U. S. 147, 164 (1939). The California court’s catalogue of that State’s penal sanctions for election fraud surely demonstrates that there are adequate alternatives to disenfranchisement.
“Today . . . the Elections Code punishes at least 76 different acts as felonies, in 33 separate sections; at least 60 additional acts are punished as misdemeanors, in 40 separate sections; and 14 more acts are declared to be felony-misdemeanors. Among this plethora of offenses we take particular note, in the-present connection, of the felony sanctions against fraudulent registrations (§220), buying and selling of votes (§§ 12000-12008), intimidating voters by threat or bribery (§§ 29130-29135), voting twice, or fraudulently voting without being entitled to do so, or impersonating another voter (§§ 14403, 29430-29431), fraud or forgery in casting absentee ballots (§§ 14690-14692), tampering with voting machines (§ 15280) or ballot boxes (§§ 17090-17092), forging or altering election returns (§§29100-29103), and so interfering 'with the officers holding an election or conducting a canvass, or with the voters lawfully exercising their rights of voting at an election, as to prevent the election or canvass from being fairly held and lawfully conducted’ (§ 17093).” 9 Cal. 3d, at *81215-216, 507 P. 2d, at 1355-1356 (1973) (footnotes omitted).
Given the panoply of criminal offenses available to deter and to punish electoral misconduct, as well as the statutory reforms and technological changes which have transformed the electoral process in the last century, election fraud may no longer be a serious danger.26
Another asserted purpose is to keep former felons from voting because their likely voting pattern might be subversive of the interests of an orderly society. See Green v. Board of Elections, 380 F. 2d 445, 451 (CA2 1967). Support for the argument that electors can be kept from the ballot box for fear they might vote to repeal or emasculate provisions of the criminal code, is drawn primarily from this Court’s decisions in Murphy v. Ramsey, 114 U. S. 15 (1885), and Davis v. Beason, 133 U. S. 333 (1890). In Murphy, the Court upheld the disenfranchisement of anyone who had ever entered into a bigamous or polygamous marriage and in Davis, the Court sanctioned, as a condition to the exercise of franchise, the requirement of an oath that the elector did not “teach, advise, counsel or encourage any person to commit the crime of bigamy or polygamy.” The Court’s intent was clear — “to withdraw all political influence from those who are practically hostile to” the goals of certain criminal laws. Murphy, supra, at 45; Davis, supra, at 348.
To the extent Murphy and Davis approve the doctrine that citizens can be barred from the ballot box because they would vote to change the existing criminal law, those decisions are surely of minimal continuing precedential value. We have since explicitly held that such “differences of opinion cannot justify excluding [any] group *82from . . . ‘the franchise,' ” Cipriano v. City of Houma, 395 U. S., at 705-706; see Communist Party of Indiana v. Whitcomb, 414 U. S. 441 (1974); Evans v. Cornman, 398 U. S. 419, 423 (1970).
“[I]f they are . . . residents, . . . they, as all other qualified residents, have a right to an equal opportunity for political representation. . . . ‘Fencing out’ from the franchise a sector of the population because of the way they may vote is constitutionally impermissible.” Carrington v. Rash, 380 U. S., at 94.
See Dunn, 405 U. S., at 355.
Although, in the last century, this Court may have justified the exclusion of voters from the electoral process for fear that they would vote to change laws considered important by a temporal majority, I have little doubt that we would not countenance such a purpose today. The process of democracy is one of change. Our laws are not frozen into immutable form, they are constantly in the process of revision in response to the needs of a changing society. The public interest, as conceived by a majority of the voting public, is constantly undergoing reexamination. This Court’s holding in Davis, supra, and Murphy, supra, that a State may disenfranchise a class of voters to “withdraw all political influence from those who are practically hostile” to the existing order, strikes at the very heart of the democratic process. A temporal majority could use such a power to preserve inviolate its view of the social order simply by disenfranchising those with different views. Voters who opposed the repeal of prohibition could have disenfranchised those who advocated repeal “to prevent persons from being enabled by their votes to defeat the criminal laws of the country.” Davis, supra, at 348. Today, presumably those who support the legalization of marihuana could be barred *83from the ballot box for much the same reason. The ballot is the democratic system's coin of the realm. To condition its exercise on support of the established order is to debase that currency beyond recognition. Rather than resurrect Davis and Murphy, I would expressly disavow any continued adherence to the dangerous notions therein expressed.27
The public purposes asserted to be served by disenfranchisement have been found wanting in many quarters. When this suit was filed, 23 States allowed ex-felons full access to the ballot. Since that time, four more States have joined their ranks.28 Shortly after lower federal *84courts sustained New York’s and Florida’s disenfranchisement provisions, the legislatures repealed those laws. Congress has recently provided for the restoration of felons’ voting rights at the end of sentence or parole in the District of Columbia. D. C. Code § 1-1102 (7) (1973). The National Conference on Uniform State *85Laws,29 the American Law Institute,30 the National Probation and Parole Association,31 the National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals,32 the President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice,33 the California League of Women Voters,34 the National Democratic Party,35 and the Secretary of State of California36 have all strongly endorsed full suffrage rights for former felons.
The disenfranchisement of ex-felons had “its origin in the fogs and fictions of feudal jurisprudence and *86doubtless has been brought forward into modern statutes without fully realizing either the effect of its literal significance or the extent of its infringement upon the spirit of our system of government.” Byers v. Sun Savings Bank, 41 Okla. 728, 731, 139 P. 948, 949 (1914). I think it clear that measured against the standards of this Court's modern equal protection jurisprudence, the blanket disenfranchisement of ex-felons cannot stand.
I respectfully dissent.

 The proceeding below was a petition for a writ of mandate in the California Supreme Court, hence the moving parties should properly be described as petitioners rather than plaintiffs. However, to avoid confusion, since the petitioners below are the re*57spondents here and vice versa, the parties in the California court will be referred to herein simply as plaintiffs and defendants.

 California Const., Art. II, § 1, provided, in part, that “no person convicted of any infamous crime . . . shall ever exercise the privileges of an elector in this State.” Article II, § 1, was repealed by referendum at the November 7, 1972, general election and was replaced by a new Art. II, §3, containing the same prohibition. The state implementing statutes include California Elections Code §§ 310, 321, 383, 389, 390, and 14240.

 The Attorney General filed a separate petition for certiorari, No. 73-324, to review the judgment of the California Supreme Court. The Secretary of State filed a memorandum opposing that petition for certiorari. The petition was denied today, post, p. 904.

 The judgment of the California Supreme Court is by custom the final paragraph of its opinion. The alternative writ referred to is merely a show-cause order, requiring the respondent to com*60ply with the petitioner’s demand or show cause why it should not be ordered to do so.

 See 5 B. Witkin, Cal. Proc. 2d, Extraordinary Writs § 22, pp. 3796-3797, and § 123, p. 3899 (1971).

 Calif. Code Civ. Proc. § 1060; see 15 Cal. Jur. 2d, Declaratory-Relief § 13; 3 B. Witkin, Cal. Proc. 2d, Pleading §705 (c), p. 2329 (1971); see, e. g., Dills v. Delira Corp., 145 Cal. App. 2d 124, 129, 302 P. 2d 397, 400 (1956).
The difference between “mandamus and declaratory relief [is] that appellate courts cannot give the latter.” 5 B. Witkin, Cal. Proc. 2d, Extraordinary Writs §21, p. 3796 (1971).

 In the first ease relied on by the majority, In re William M., 3 Cal. 3d 16, 473 P. 2d 737 (1970), the California Supreme Court had previously granted a writ of habeas corpus which effectively mooted the petitioner’s claim for relief. The court, nonetheless, later issued an opinion on the issue posed by the case while denying further relief. In a footnote, the court observed that as a general proposition, courts should avoid advisory opinions, but, in the very next sentence, reaffirmed its inherent discretion to issue such opinions. In the accompanying text, the court noted that it could render a decision in a moot case which would not be binding on a party before it, where the case involved issues of particular public importance. Although the court referred to its “declaratory use of habeas corpus in a number of cases,” citing B. Witkin, Cal. Crim. Proc. § 790 (1963), and In re Fluery, 67 Cal. 2d 600, 432 P. 2d 986 (1967), the Witkin treatise refers to the court’s “declaratory use of habeas corpus” and In re Finery, supra, in particular, as examples of the “use of the writ to render a purely advisory opinion unnecessary to the determination of the particular controversy.” B. Witkin, Cal. Crim. Proc., Habeas Corpus and Other Extraordinary Writs § 790, p. 247 (Supp. 1967).
The second case relied on by the majority is Young v. Gnoss, 7 Cal. 3d 18, 496 P. 2d 445 (1972), cited by the court below solely for the proposition that mandamus is an appropriate remedy to seek in an original proceeding. In that case, the petitioners had sought mandamus relief from the application of a state durational residence requirement for voting in order that they might vote in a June primary. The California Supreme Court, in a lengthy opinion, indicated that the challenged requirement was unconstitutional on the authority of our decision in Dunn v. Blumstein, 405 U. S. 330 (1972), but exercised its equitable discretion not to order a change in the residence requirements for the June primary *63because too little time remained for such a change to be implemented in an orderly fashion. Accordingly, mandamus relief was denied. The court recommended that the necessary changes in residence requirements be effected before the November election but did not so order to give the “Legislature the opportunity to address itself to the problem . . . 7 Cal. 3d, at 28, 496 P. 2d, at 452-453. The court relied on its earlier decision in Legislature v. Reinecke, 6 Cal. 3d 595, 492 P. 2d 385 (1972), where the court had expressed its views on a legislative reapportionment problem, denied a writ of mandate, and retained jurisdiction to allow the legislature an opportunity to act before providing any judicial relief.
Each of these cases involves examples of advisory opinions rather than declaratory relief. In the latter, what the California Supreme Court did was to provide some guidance to the legislature while staying its hand and not affording judicial relief for the claimed deprivation. It seems well settled that California courts have “inherent discretion” to issue such advisory opinions. See 2 B. Wit-kin, Cal. Proc. 2d, Actions § 44, p. 920 (1970); id., § 42, p. 916; 5 B. Witkin, Cal. Proc. 2d, Extraordinary Writs § 117, p. 3894; cf. Kir-stowsky v. Superior Court, 143 Cal. App. 2d 745, 749, 300 P. 2d 163, 166 (1956).

 The Court has held, for example, that Art. Ill restricts standing to bring a class action to the actual members of the class. O’Shea v. Littleton, 414 U. S. 488 (1974). The named plaintiffs here had been disenfranchised at the time they filed suit, and there is thus no question concerning their standing to challenge the California disenfranchisement provisions.

 The Court distinguished its decision in Hall v. Beds, 396 U. S. 45 (1969), finding a challenge to Colorado’s durational residence requirement moot, on the grounds that, in Hdl, there had been an intervening change in law reducing the residence requirements from six months to two while the case was on appeal. Accordingly, application of the six-month requirement was incapable of repetition as to the named plaintiff or any other member of his class, and, having *67never been disenfranchised thereby, the named plaintiff had no standing to challenge the two-month requirement.

 The Court has found a live controversy in other voting cases in which intervening circumstances seemed to have mooted the named *68plaintiff’s claim for relief. Moore v. Ogilvie, 394 U. S. 814 (1969), for example, was an appeal from a decision denying relief to appellants who had unsuccessfully sought to be certified, as required by state law, as independent candidates for Presidential elector on the 1968 ballot. Appellants asserted that the Illinois certification requirement violated the State’s constitutional obligation not to discriminate against voters in less populous counties. By the time their appeal reached this Court, the 1968 election had already taken place, but we held the case was not moot because “while the 1968 election is over, [the challenged burden] remains and controls future elections . . . ,” id., at 816; see Hall v. Beals, supra, at 49, and the short span of time between the denial of certification for candidacy and actual balloting threatens to moot all future attacks on the questioned candidacy requirements. 394 U. S., at 816. See also Storer v. Brown, 415 U. S. 724, 737 n. 8 (1974); Rosario v. Rockefeller, 410 U. S. 752, 756 n. 5 (1973).

 The extent of continuing disenfranchisement is apt to be minimal. A survey conducted by the Secretary of State of California indicated that the election officials of 52 of the 58 counties in California, representing counties which contain 97.39% of the registered voters in the State, agreed with the clerks in the named plaintiffs’ counties that ex-felons should not be barred from voting in their counties. Brief for Respondents 30.

 The Court’s opinion cites our decision in Indiana Employment Security Div. v. Burney, 409 U. S. 540 (1973), for the proposition that unnamed class members may not be looked to in cases arising from the federal system, but the case does not support that proposition. Burney concerned a constitutional challenge to the termination of unemployment insurance benefits without a prior hearing. The only named class representative received a post-termination hearing at which she obtained a reversal of the initial determination of ineligiblity and full retroactive benefits. The Court remanded for consideration of mootness. The jurisdictional issue in this Court revolved around whether the case presented issues “capable of repetition, yet evading review.” The Court did not have to find the alleged constitutional deprivation incapable of repetition, hence was not concerned with the problem of whether a future application to the named class representative was required. Rather, it appeared that the prior-hearing issue was not one which would evade review. But see id., at 542-546 (dissenting opinion). The Court reasoned that a post-termination hearing, afforded as a matter of course, would not invariably moot all claims for relief from members of the class. If the post-termination hearing did not result in an award of retroactive payments, as it had in the named plain*70tiff’s case, a live and continuing controversy would be presented as to the insured’s claim to the benefits allegedly wrongfully withheld pending the hearing. A case had already come to this Court in just such a posture, and the Court had summarily affirmed the judgment of the three-judge court. Torres v. New York State Department of Labor, 405 U. S. 949 (1972), but see 410 U. S. 971 (1973) (dissenting opinion to denial of rehearing). It was a failure to satisfy the “evading review” element of the test that led the Court to remand Burney for consideration of mootness.

 In the absence of such an order, petitioner Richardson is under no compulsion to register ex-felons in her county nor subject to any penalty for failing to do so. See Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 1097 (1955).

 The suit against petitioner, Richardson v. James, 1 Civ. 32283, is presently pending in Division 3 of the Court of Appeal for the First Appellate District of California.

 If claims of the named plaintiffs are moot, the proper disposition of this case would seem to be to vacate the Judgment of the California Supreme Court and remand for such proceedings as that court deems appropriate. Brockington v. Rhodes, 396 U. S. 41, 44 (1969).

 See, e. g., Note, Restoring the Ex-offender’s Right to Vote: Background and Developments, 11 Am. Crim. L. Rev. 721, 746-747, n. 158 (1973).

 Statement of Rep. Ecldey, quoted, ante, at 46.

 Bonfield, The Right to Vote and Judicial Enforcement of Section Two of the Fourteenth Amendment, 46 Cornell L. Q. 108, 109 (1960); H. Flack, The Adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment 98, 126 (1908); B. Kendrick, Journal of the Joint Committee of Fifteen on Reconstruction 290-291 (1914); J. James, The Framing of the Fourteenth Amendment 185 (1956); Van Alstyne, The Fourteenth Amendment, the “Right” to Vote, and the Understanding of the Thirty-ninth Congress, 1965 Sup. Ct. ,Rev. 33, 44 (1965).

 James, n. 18, supra, at 138-139.

 Kendrick, n. 18, supra, at 291; cf. Flack, n. 18, supra, at 111, 118.

 Bonfield, n. 18, supra, at 111; James, n. 18, supra, at 185; Yan Alstyne, n. 18, supra, at 43-44, 58, 65.

 Id., at 43-44 (quoting from Mathews, Legislative and Judicial History of the Fifteenth Amendment (1909)).

 Id., at 65.

 To say that § 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment is a direct limitation on the protection afforded voting rights by § 1 leads to absurd results. If one accepts the premise that §2 authorizes disenfranchisement for any crime, the challenged California provision could, as the California Supreme Court has observed, require disenfranchisement for seduction under promise of marriage, or conspiracy to operate a motor vehicle without a muffler. Otsuka v. Hite, 64 Cal. 2d 596, 414 P. 2d 412 (1966). Disenfranchisement extends to convictions for vagrancy in Alabama or breaking a water pipe in North *76Dakota, to note but two examples. Note, Disenfranchisement of Ex-felons: A Reassessment, 25 Stan. L. Rev. 845, 846 (1973). Even a jaywalking or traffic conviction could conceivably lead to disenfranchisement, since § 2 does not differentiate between felonies and misdemeanors.

 Memorandum of the Secretary of State of California in Opposition to Certiorari, in Class of County Clerks and Registrars of Voters of California v. Ramirez, No. 73-324.

 Ramirez v. Brown, 9 Cal. 3d 199, 215-216, 507 P. 2d 1345, 1355-1356 (1973).

 The Court_ also notes that the disenfranchisement of ex-felons has received support in the dicta of this Court and that we have only recently affirmed without opinion the decisions of two three-judge District Courts upholding disenfranchisement provisions. Fincher v. Scott, 352 F. Supp. 117 (MDNC 1972), aff’d mem., 411 U. S. 961 (1973); Beacham v. Braterman, 300 F.Supp. 182 (SD Fla.), aff’d per curiam, 396 U. S. 12 (1969). But, dictum is not precedent and as Mr. Justice Rehnquist has only recently reminded us, summary affirmances are obviously not of the same precedential value as would be an opinion of this Court treating the question on the merits. Edelman v. Jordan, 415 U. S. 651, 671 (1974). See F. Frankfurter & J. Landis, The Business of the Supreme Court at October Term, 1929, 44 Harv. L. Rev. 1, 14 (1930).

 The following States do not disenfranchise all former felons: Arkansas, Ark. Stat. Ann. §3-707 (Supp. 1973); Colorado, Colo. Const., Art. VII, § 10, and Colo. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 49-3-2 (Perm. Cum. Supp. 1971); Florida, Fla. Stat. Ann. §940.05 (1973); Hawaii, Hawaii Rev. Stat. §716-5 (Supp. 1972); Illinois, Ill. Rev. Stat., c. 46, § 3-5 (1973); Indiana, Ind. Ann. Stat. § 29-4804 (1969) ; Kansas, Kan. Stat. Ann. § 22-3722 (Supp. 1973); Maine, Me. Rev. Stat. Ann., Tit. 21, § 245 (1964); Massachusetts, Mass. Gen. Laws Ann., c. 51, § 1 (Supp. 1974AL975) (except election code offenders); Michigan, Mich. Const., Art. II, § 2, and Mich. Comp. Laws Ann. § 168.10 (1970); Minnesota, Minn. Stat. § 609.165 (1971); Nebraska, Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-2264 (Supp. 1972) and Neb. Rev. Stat. § 83-1118 (1971); New Hampshire, N. II. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 607-A:2 (Supp. 1973); New Jersey, N. J. Stat. Ann. § 19:^1 '(Supp. 1974-*841975) (except election code offenders); Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 2967.16 (Supp. 1972); Oregon, Ore. Rev. Stat. §§ 137.240 and 137.250 (1973); Pennsylvania, Pa. Const., Art. VII, § 1, Pa. Stat. Ann., Tit. 19, § 893 (1964), and Tit. 25, § 3552 (1963) (except election code offenders for four years); South Dakota, S. D. Comp. Laws Ann. §§ 24^5-2 and 23-57-7 (1969); Utah, Utah Const., Art. IV, § 6 (except those convicted of treason or election code offenses); Vermont, Vt. Const., c. II, § 51 (except election code offenders); Washington, Wash. Rev. Code Ann. § 9.96.050 (Supp. 1972); West Virginia, 51 Op. W. Va. Atty. Gen. No. 42, p. 182 (1965) (construing W. Va. Const., Art. IV, § 1); Wisconsin, Wis. Stat. Ann. § 57-078 (Supp. 1974M975); Wyoming, Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 7-311 (1957).
In 1972 Montana amended its constitution to disenfranchise potential electors only while “serving a sentence for a felony.” Mont. Const., Art. IV, § 2; Mont. Rev. Codes Ann. § 23-2701 (Supp. 1973). In 1973, New York amended its laws to allow former felons whose sentence had expired or who were released from parole to vote. N. Y. Election Law § 152 (Supp. 1973-1974). Also in 1973, North Carolina amended its laws to restore all civil rights including the franchise to former felons discharged from prison or parole. N. C. Gen. Stat. §13-1 (Supp. 1973). And, in the same year, the Tennessee Legislature amended its ex-felon disenfranchisement statutes. See Term. Code Ann. §2-202 (Supp. 1973).
The New York ex-felon disenfranchisement provision was upheld in Green v. Board of Elections, 380 F. 2d 445 (CA2 1967), and shortly thereafter the New York Legislature repealed that law. N. Y. Election Law §152 (Supp. 1973-1974). Similarly the Florida disenfranchisement provisions were upheld in Beacham v. Braterman, 300 F. Supp. 182 (SD Fla.), aff’d per curiam, 396 U. S. 12 (1969). Subsequently, Florida statutes were amended to provide for the automatic restoration of all civil rights, including the franchise, upon the completion of sentence or release from parole or probation. Fla Stat. Ann. §940.05 (1973).

 National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, Uniform Act on Status of Convicted Persons §§2-3 (1964).

 American Law Institute, Model Penal Code § 306.3 (Proposed Official Draft 1962).

 National Probation and Parole Association, Standard Probation and Parole Act §§ 12 and 27 (1955).

 National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals, Corrections, Standard 16.17, p. 592 (1973). The Report observed:
“Loss of citizenship rights — [including] the right to vote . . . —inhibits reformative efforts. If correction is to reintegrate an offender into free society, the offender must retain all attributes of citizenship. In addition, his respect for law and the legal system may well depend, in some measure, on his ability to participate in that system. Mandatory denials of that participation serve no legitimate public interest.” Id., at 593.

 President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice, Task Force Report: Corrections 89-90 (1967): “[T]here seems no justification for permanently depriving all convicted felons of the vote .... [T]o be deprived of the right to representation in a democratic society is an important symbol. Moreover, rehabilitation might be furthered by encouraging convicted persons to participate in society by exercising the vote.”

 California League of Women Voters, Policy Statement, Feb. 16, 1972.

 National Democratic Party, Party Platform 1972.

 Memorandum of the Secretary of State of California in Opposition to Certiorari in Class of County Clerks and Registrars of Voters of California v. Ramirez, No. 73-324.