Wednesday, November 13, 2024
Hawai'i Free Press

Current Articles | Archives

Wednesday, April 6, 2016
What Does Evenwel v. Abbott Mean For "One Person, One Vote?"
By Robert Thomas @ 7:16 PM :: 3854 Views :: Office of Elections

What Does Evenwel v. Abbott Mean For "One Person, One Vote?"

by Robert Thomas, InverseCondemnation, April 5, 2016

Yet another detour back to our second favorite topic, election law.

Casetext asked us to provide some commentary and analysis of the Supreme Court's recent Evenwel opinion, and we produced this piece ("What Does Evenwel v. Abbott Mean For 'One Person, One Vote?'"), which is a refinement of our earlier blog post containing our initial thoughts on the decision. 

It's not a long piece and we hope you read it (even you land users and takings mavens, who may be asked about this big case at your next cocktail party -- all lawyers, after all, must be prepared at such events to respond to inquiries about every recent Supreme Court decision, even if they are far afield from your usual area of practice). The short answer to the question posed in the title is:

Evenwel has transformed the "one-person, one-vote'" rule in reapportionment cases into more of a "one-person, one-representative" principle.

What this means is that the Court unanimously affirmed the paramount role of representational equality in state reapportionment, concluding that "the body politic in the states is comprised of all persons present, regardless of citizenship or voting status," and that while voting power may have a role, it is secondary to the principle of equal representation for everyone: 

At first blush, it may seem odd to conclude that those who are not U.S. citizens and those who are not eligible to vote are deserving of representation in our state legislatures—at least until one reads the text of the Equal Protection Clause and understands its long-standing judicial interpretation and sees that elected officials represent all “persons” in their jurisdictions, not only citizens or those who can elevate them to office. Evenwel thus was not a close call, and the unanimous Court held that "the rule appellants urge has no mooring in the Equal Protection Clause." Slip op. at 19.

We hope you check it out.

---30---

Links

TEXT "follow HawaiiFreePress" to 40404

Register to Vote

2aHawaii

Aloha Pregnancy Care Center

AntiPlanner

Antonio Gramsci Reading List

A Place for Women in Waipio

Ballotpedia Hawaii

Broken Trust

Build More Hawaiian Homes Working Group

Christian Homeschoolers of Hawaii

Cliff Slater's Second Opinion

DVids Hawaii

FIRE

Fix Oahu!

Frontline: The Fixers

Genetic Literacy Project

Grassroot Institute

Habele.org

Hawaii Aquarium Fish Report

Hawaii Aviation Preservation Society

Hawaii Catholic TV

Hawaii Christian Coalition

Hawaii Cigar Association

Hawaii ConCon Info

Hawaii Debt Clock

Hawaii Defense Foundation

Hawaii Family Forum

Hawaii Farmers and Ranchers United

Hawaii Farmer's Daughter

Hawaii Federation of Republican Women

Hawaii History Blog

Hawaii Jihadi Trial

Hawaii Legal News

Hawaii Legal Short-Term Rental Alliance

Hawaii Matters

Hawaii Military History

Hawaii's Partnership for Appropriate & Compassionate Care

Hawaii Public Charter School Network

Hawaii Rifle Association

Hawaii Shippers Council

Hawaii Together

HiFiCo

Hiram Fong Papers

Homeschool Legal Defense Hawaii

Honolulu Navy League

Honolulu Traffic

House Minority Blog

Imua TMT

Inouye-Kwock, NYT 1992

Inside the Nature Conservancy

Inverse Condemnation

July 4 in Hawaii

Land and Power in Hawaii

Lessons in Firearm Education

Lingle Years

Managed Care Matters -- Hawaii

MentalIllnessPolicy.org

Missile Defense Advocacy

MIS Veterans Hawaii

NAMI Hawaii

Natatorium.org

National Parents Org Hawaii

NFIB Hawaii News

NRA-ILA Hawaii

Obookiah

OHA Lies

Opt Out Today

Patients Rights Council Hawaii

Practical Policy Institute of Hawaii

Pritchett Cartoons

Pro-GMO Hawaii

RailRipoff.com

Rental by Owner Awareness Assn

Research Institute for Hawaii USA

Rick Hamada Show

RJ Rummel

School Choice in Hawaii

SenatorFong.com

Talking Tax

Tax Foundation of Hawaii

The Real Hanabusa

Time Out Honolulu

Trustee Akina KWO Columns

Waagey.org

West Maui Taxpayers Association

What Natalie Thinks

Whole Life Hawaii