USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Dissent by Justices Frankfurter and Harlan Frankfurter, joined by Justice John Marshall Harlan II, dissented vigorously and at length, arguing that the Court had cast aside history and judicial restraint, and violated the separation of powers between legislatures and Courts.

Detailed explanation-2: -Baker v. Carr (1962) is the U.S. Supreme Court case that held that federal courts could hear cases alleging that a state’s drawing of electoral boundaries, i.e. redistricting, violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution.

Detailed explanation-3: -majority opinion by William J. Brennan, Jr. 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.

Detailed explanation-4: -In the Baker case, however, the court held that each vote should carry equal weight regardless of the voter’s place of residence. Thus the legislature of Tennessee had violated the constitutionally guaranteed right of equal protection (q.v.).