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BAKER V. CARR
Term: 1960­1969 1960
Case Basics
Location: Tennessee State Capitol
Facts of the Case Charles W. Baker and other Tennessee citizens alleged that a 1901 law designed to
apportion the seats for the state's General Assembly was virtually ignored. Baker's
suit detailed how Tennessee's reapportionment efforts ignored significant economic
growth and population shifts within the state.
Question Did the Supreme Court have jurisdiction over questions of legislative apportionment?
Conclusion Docket No. 6
Appellee Carr
Appellant Baker
Decided By Warren Court (1958­1962)
Opinion 369 U.S. 186 (1962)
Decision: 6 votes for Baker, 2 vote(s) against
Legal provision:
In an opinion which explored the nature of "political questions" and the
appropriateness of Court action in them, the Court held that there were no such
questions to be answered in this case and that legislative apportionment was a
justiciable issue. In his opinion, Justice Brennan provided past examples in which the
Court had intervened to correct constitutional violations in matters pertaining to state
administration and the officers through whom state affairs are conducted. Brennan
concluded that the Fourteenth Amendment equal protection issues which Baker and
others raised in this case merited judicial evaluation.
Argued April 19­20, 1961
Reargued: Monday, October 9, 1961
Decided Monday, March 26, 1962
Advocates
Archibald Cox
(By special leave of Court, reargued
the cause for the United States, as
amicus curiae, urging reversal)
Charles S. Rhyne
Warren
Black
Douglas
Clark
Brennan
Stewart
Frankfurter
Harlan
(Argued the cause for the appellants)
Whittaker
Z. T. Osborn, Jr.
(Reargued the cause for the
appellees)
Jack Wilson
(Reargued the cause for the
appellees)
Tags
Judicial Power
Standing to Sue
Cite this Page
BAKER v. CARR. The Oyez Project at IIT Chicago­Kent College of Law. 29 April 2015.
<http://www.oyez.org/cases/1960­1969/1960/1960_6>.
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