The Supreme Court and Election Law

Judging Equality from Baker v. Carr to Bush v. Gore

Richard Hasen

• Publisher: NYU Press
• Year: 2003
• Print ISBN: 9780814736913
• eBook ISBN: 9780814773338
• Topic: Law
• Subtopic: Law Theory & Practice
• Index: Law

In the first comprehensive study of election law since the Supreme Court decided Bush v. Gore, Richard L. Hasen rethinks the Court's role in regulating elections. Drawing on the case files of the Warren, Burger, and Rehnquist courts, Hasen roots the Court's intervention in political process cases to the landmark 1962 case, Baker v. Carr. The case opened the courts to a variety of election law disputes, to the point that the courts now control and direct major aspects of the American electoral process.
The Supreme Court does have a crucial role to play in protecting a socially constructed "core" of political equality principles, contends Hasen, but it should leave contested questions of political equality to the political process itself. Under this standard, many of the Court's most important election law cases from Baker to Bush have been wrongly decided.

Appendix 1

Twentieth-Century Election Law Cases Decidedby the Supreme Court in a Written Opinion

1901–1910

Swafford v. Templeton, 185 U.S. 487 (1902)

Giles v. Harris, 189 U.S. 475 (1903)

James v. Bowman, 190 U.S. 127 (1903)

Giles v. Teasley, 193 U.S. 146 (1904)

Pope v. Williams, 193 U.S. 621 (1904)

Jones v. Montague, 194 U.S. 147 (1904)

Selden v. Montague, 194 U.S. 153 (1904)

Albright v. Territory of New Mexico ex rel. Sandoval, 200 U.S. 9 (1906)

Burton v. United States, 202 U.S. 344 (1906)

Elder v. Colorado, 204 U.S. 85 (1907)

United States v. Thayer, 209 U.S. 39 (1908)

Richardson v. McChesney, 218 U.S. 487 (1910)

Franklin v. State of South Carolina, 218 U.S. 161 (1910)

1911–1920

Pacific States Telephone and Telegraph Company v. Oregon, 223

U.S. 118 (1912)

Marshall v. Dye, 231 U.S. 250 (1913)

Guinn v. United States, 238 U.S. 347 (1915)

Newman v. United States ex rel. Frizzell, 238 U.S. 537 (1915)

Myers v. Anderson, 238 U.S. 377 (1915)

United States v. Mosley, 238 U.S. 383 (1915)

State of Ohio ex rel. Davis v. Hilderbrant, 241 U.S. 565 (1916)

United States v. Gradwell, 243 U.S. 476 (1917)

United States v. Bathgate, 246 U.S. 220 (1918)

1921–1930

Newberry v. United States, 256 U.S. 232 (1921)

Fairchild v. Hughes, 258 U.S. 126 (1922)

Leser v. Garnett, 258 U.S. 130 (1922)

Love v. Griffith, 266 U.S. 32 (1924)

Nixon v. Herndon, 273 U.S. 536 (1927)

Reed v. County Commissioners of Delaware County, Pennsylvania,

277 U.S. 376 (1928)

Barry v. United States ex rel. Cunningham, 279 U.S. 597 (1929)

United States v. Wurzbach, 280 U.S. 396 (1930)

1931–1940

Smiley v. Holm, 285 U.S. 355 (1932)

Koenig v. Flynn, 285 U.S. 375 (1932)

Carroll v. Becker, 285 U.S. 380 (1932)

Nixon v. Condon, 286 U.S. 73 (1932)

Wood v. Broom, 287 U.S. 1 (1932)

Burroughs v. United States, 290 U.S. 534 (1934)

Grovey v. Townsend, 295 U.S. 45 (1935)

United States v. Norris, 300 U.S. 564 (1937)

Breedlove v. Suttles, 302 U.S. 277 (1937)

Lane v. Wilson, 307 U.S. 268 (1939)

1941–1950

United States v. Classic, 313 U.S. 299 (1941)

Snowden v. Hughes, 321 U.S. 1 (1944)

McDonald v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 323 U.S. 57 (1944)

Smith v. Allwright, 321 U.S. 649 (1944)

U.S. v. Saylor, 322 U.S. 385 (1944)

Colegrove v. Green, 328 U.S. 549 (1946)

United States v. C.I.O., 335 U.S. 106 (1948)

MacDougall v. Green, 335 U.S. 281 (1948)

South v. Peters, 339 U.S. 276 (1950)

1951–1960

Gerende v. Election Board, 341 U.S. 56 (1951)

Day-Brite Lighting, Inc. v. Missouri, 342 U.S. 421 (1952)

United States v. Hood, 343 U.S. 148 (1952)

Ray v. Blair, 343 U.S. 214 (1952)

Terry v. Adams, 345 U.S. 461 (1953)

United States v. UAW-CIO, 352 U.S. 567, (1957)

Farmers Educational & Cooperative Union of America v. WDAY, 360 U.S. 525 (1959)

Lassiter v. Northhampton Election Board, 360 U.S. 45 (1959)

United States v. Raines, 362 U.S. 17 (1960)

United States v. Thomas, 362 U.S. 58 (1960)

United States v. Alabama, 362 U.S. 602 (1960)

Hannah v. Larche, 363 U.S. 420 (1960)

Gomillion v. Lightfoot, 364 U.S. 339 (1960)

1961–1970

Baker v. Carr, 369 U.S. 186 (1962)

Scholle v. Hare, 369 U.S. 429 (1962)

Wood v. Georgia, 370 U.S. 375 (1962)

Gray v. Sanders, 372 U.S. 368 (1963)

Anderson v. Martin, 375 U.S. 399 (1964)

Wesberry v. Sanders, 376 U.S. 1 (1964)

Wright v. Rockefeller, 376 U.S. 52 (1964)

Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U.S. 533 (1964)

WMCA, Inc. v. Lomenzo, 377 U.S. 633 (1964)

Maryland Committee for Fair Representation v. Tawes, 377 U.S. 656 (1964)

Davis v. Mann, 377 U.S. 678 (1964)

Roman v. Sincock, 377 U.S. 695 (1964)

Lucas v. Forty-Fourth General Assembly of Colorado, 377 U.S. 713 (1964)

Fortson v. Dorsey, 379 U.S. 433 (1965)

Fortson v. Toombs, 379 U.S. 621 (1965)

Carrington v. Rash, 380 U.S. 89 (1965)

United States v. Mississippi, 380 U.S. 128 (1965)

Louisiana v. United States, 380 U.S. 145 (1965)

Harman v. Forssenius, 380 U.S. 528 (1965)

Parsons v. Buckley, 379 U.S. 359 (1965)

Scott v. Germano, 381 U.S. 407 (1965)

WMCA, Inc. v. Lomenzo, 382 U.S. 4 (1965)

Swann v. Adams, 383 U.S. 210 (1966)

South Carolina v. Katzenbach, 383 U.S. 301 (1966)

Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections, 383 U.S. 663 (1966)

Burns v. Richardson, 384 U.S. 73 (1966)

Mills v. Alabama, 384 U.S. 214 (1966)

Katzenbach v. Morgan, 384 U.S. 641 (1966)

United States v. Johnson, 383 U.S. 169 (1966)

Cardona v. Power, 384 U.S. 672 (1966)

Bond v. Floyd, 385 U.S. 116 (1966)

Fortson v. Morris, 385 U.S. 231 (1966)

Swann v. Adams, 385 U.S. 440 (1967)

Kilgarlin v. Hill, 386 U.S. 120 (1967)

Moody v. Flowers, 387 U.S. 97 (1967)

Zwicker v. Koota, 389 U.S. 241 (1967)

Sailors v. Board of Education of the County of Kent, 387 U.S. 105 (1967)

Lucas v. Rhodes, 389 U.S. 212 (1967)

Rockefeller v. Wells, 389 U.S. 421 (1967)

Avery v. Midland County, 390 U.S. 474 (1968)

Williams v. Rhodes, 393 U.S. 23 (1968)

Allen v. State Board of Elections, 393 U.S. 544 (1969)

Hadnott v. Amos, 394 U.S. 358 (1969)

Kirkpatrick v. Preisler, 394 U.S. 526 (1969)

Wells v. Rockefeller, 394 U.S. 542 (1969)

McDonald v. Board of Election Commissioners, 394 U.S. 802 (1969)

Moore v. Ogilvie, 394 U.S. 814 (1969)

Gaston County v. United States, 395 U.S. 285 (1969)

Powell v. McCormack, 395 U.S. 486 (1969)

Kramer v. Union Free School District No. 15, 395 U.S. 621 (1969)

Cipriano v. City of Houma, 395 U.S. 701 (1969)

Brockington v. Rhodes, 396 U.S. 41 (1969)

Golden v. Zwickler, 394 U.S. 103 (1969)

In re Herndon, 394 U.S. 399 (1969)

Hall v. Beals, 396 U.S. 45 (1969)

Hadley v. Junior College District of Metropolitan Kansas City, 397

U.S. 50 (1970)

Mitchell v. Donovan, 398 U.S. 427 (1970)

City of Phoenix v. Kolodziejski, 399 U.S. 204 (1970)

Turner v. Fouche, 396 U.S. 346 (1970)

Evans v. Cornman, 398 U.S. 419 (1970)

Oregon v. Mitchell, 400 U.S. 112 (1970)

1971–1980

Perkins v. Matthews, 400 U.S. 379 (1971)

Connor v. Johnson, 402 U.S. 690 (1971)

W...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• The Supreme Court of Political Equality
• Judicial Unmanageability and Political Equality
• Protecting the Core of Political Equality
• Deferring to Political Branches on Contested Equality Claims
• Equality, Not Structure
• Conclusion: Political Equality and a Minimalist Court
• Appendix 1: Twentieth-Century Election Law Cases Decided by the Supreme Court in a Written Opinion
• Appendix 2: Justice Goldberg’s Proposed Dissent to a Per Curiam Summary Affirmance in Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections
• Notes
• Index
• About the Author
• Footnote