WMCA, Inc. v. Lomenzo (377 U.S. 633)/Opinion of the Court

At issue in this litigation is the constitutional validity, under the Fourteenth Amendment to the Federal Constitution, of the apportionment of seats in the New York Legislature.

Appellants initially brought this action on May 1, 1961, in the Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York. Plaintiffs below included individual citizens and voters residing in five of the six most populous New York counties (Bronx, Kings, Nassau, New York and Queens), suing in their own behalf and on behalf of all New York citizens similarly situated. Appellees, sued in their representative capacities, are various state and local officials charged with duties in connection with reapportionment and the conducting of state elections. The complaint claimed rights under the Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983, 1988, and asserted jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1343(3).

Plaintiffs below sought a declaration that those provisions of the State Constitution which establish the formulas for apportioning seats in the two houses of the New York Legislature, and the statutes implementing them, are unconstitutional since violative of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Federal Constitution. The complaint further asked the District Court to enjoin defendants from performing any acts or duties in compliance with the allegedly unconstitutional legislative apportionment provisions. Plaintiffs asserted that they had no adequate remedy other than the judicial relief sought, and requested the court to retain jurisdiction until the New York Legislature, 'freed from the fetters imposed by the Constitutional provisions invalidated by this Court, provides for such apportionment of the State legislature as will insure to the urban voters of New York State the rights guaranteed them by the Constitution of the United States.'

In attacking the existing apportionment of seats in the New York Legislature, plaintiffs below stated, more particularly, that:

'The provisions of the New York State Constitution, Article     III, §§ 2-5, violate the XIV A mendment of the Constitution      of the United States because the apportionment formula      contained therein results, and must necessarily result, when      applied to the population figures of the State in a grossly      unfair weighting of both houses in the State legislature in      favor of the lesser populated rural areas of the state to the      great disadvantage of the densely populated urban centers of      the state. * *

'As a result of the constitutional provisions challenged     herein, the Plaintiffs' votes are not as effective in either      house of the legislature as the votes of other citizens      residing in rural areas of the state. Plaintiffs and all     others similarly situated suffer a debasement of their votes      by virtue of the arbitrary, obsolete and unconstitutional      apportionment of the legislature and they and all others      similarly situated are denied the equal protection of the      laws required by the Constitution of the United States.'

The complaint asserted that the legislative apportionment provisions of the 1894 New York Constitution, as amended, are not only presently unconstitutional, but also were invalid and violative of the Fourteenth Amendment at the time of their adoption, and that '(t)he population growth in the State of New York and the shifts of population to urban areas have aggravated the violation of Plaintiffs' rights under the XIV Amendment.'

As requested by plaintiffs, a three-judge District Court was convened. The New York City defendants admitted the allegations of the complaint and requested the Court to grant plaintiffs the relief they were seeking. The remaining defendants moved to dismiss. On January 11, 1962, the District Court announced its initial decision. It held that it had jurisdiction but dismissed the complaint, without reaching the merits, on the ground that it failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted, since the issues raised were nonjusticiable. 202 F.Supp. 741. In discussing the allegations made by plaintiffs, the Court stated:

'The complaint specifically cites as the cause of this     allegedly unconstitutional distribution of state legislative      representation the New York Constitutional provisions      requiring that:

'(a) ' * *  * the total of fifty Senators established by the      Constitution of 1894 shall be increased by those Senators to      which any of the larger counties become entitled in addition      to their allotment as of 1894, but without effect for      decreases in other large counties *  *  * '

'(b) no county may have 'four or more Senators unless it has     a full ratio for each Senator *  *  * ' and '(c) ' *  *  * every county except Hamilton shall always be   entitled (in the Assembly) to one member coupled with   the limitation of the entire membership to 150 members *   *  * ."

Nothing that the 1894 Constitution, containing the present apportionment provisious, was approved by a majority of the State's electorate before becoming effective, and that subsequently the voters had twice disapproved proposals for a constitutional convention to amend the constitutional provisions relating to legislative apportionment, the District Court concluded that, in any event, there was a 'want of equity in the relief sought, or, to view it slightly differently, want of justiciability, (which) clearly demands dismissal.'

Plaintiffs appealed to this Court from the District Court's dismissal of their complaint. On June 11, 1962, we vacated the judgment below and remanded for further consideration in the light of Baker v. Carr, 369 U.S. 186, 82 S.Ct. 691, 7 L.Ed.2d 663, which had been decided subsequent to the District Court's dismissal of the suit below. 370 U.S. 190, 82 S.Ct. 1234, 8 L.Ed.2d 430. In vacating and remanding, we stated:

'Our well-established practice of a remand for consideration     in the light of a subsequent decision therefore applies. * *      * (W)e believe that the court below should be the first to      consider the merits of the federal constitutional claim, free      from any doubts as to its justificability and as to the      merits of alleged arbitrary and invidious geographical      discrimination.'

On August 16, 1962, the District Court, after conducting a hearing, dismissed the complaint on the merits, concluding that plaintiffs had not shown by a preponderance of the evidence that there was any invidious discrimination, that the apportionment provisions of the New York Constitution were rational and not arbitrary, that they were of historical origin and contained no improper geographical discrimination, that they could be amended by an electoral majority of the citizens of New York, and that therefore the apportionment of seats in the New York Senate and Assembly was not unconstitutional. 208 F.Supp. 368. Finding no failure by the New York Legislature to comply with the state constitutional provisions requiring and establishing the formulas for periodic reapportionment of Senate and Assembly seats, the court below relied on the presumption of constitutionality attaching to a state constitutional provision and the necessity for a clear violation 'before a federal court of equity will lend its power to the disruption of the state election processes * *  * .' After postulating a number of 'tests' for invidious discrimination, inc uding the '(r)ationality of state policy and whether or not the system is arbitrary,' '(w)hether or not the present complexion of the legislature has a historical basis,' whether the electorate has an available political remedy, and '(g)eography, including accessibility of legislative representatives to their electors,' the Court concluded that none of the relevant New York constitutional provisions were arbitrary or irrational in giving weight to, in addition to population, 'the ingredient of area, accessibility and character of interest.' Stating that in New York 'the county is a classic unit of governmental organization and administration,' the District Court found that the allocation of one Assembly seat to each county was grounded on a historical basis. The Court noted that the 1957 vote on whether to call a constitutional convention was 'heralded as an issue of apportionment' by the then Governor, but that nevertheless a majority of the State's voters chose not to have a constitutional convention convened. The Court also noted that 'if strict population standards were adopted certain undesirable results might follow such as an increase in the size of the legislature to such an extent that effective debate may be hampered or an increase in the size of districts to such an extent that contacts between the individual legislator and his constituents may become impracticable.' As a result of the District Court's dismissal of the complaint, the November 1962 election of New York legislators was conducted pursuant to the existing apportionment scheme. A timely appeal to this Court was filed, and we noted probable jurisdiction on June 10, 1963, 374 U.S. 802, 83 S.Ct. 1691, 10 L.Ed.2d 1028.

Apportionment of seats in the two houses of the New York Legislature is prescribed by certain formulas contained in the 1894 State Constitution, as amended. Reapportionment is effected periodically by statutory provisions, enacted in compliance with the constitutionally established formulas. The county is the basic unit of area for apportionment purposes, except that two sparsely populated counties, Fulton and Hamilton, are treated as one. New York uses citizen population instead of total population, excluding aliens from consideration, for purposes of legislative apportionment. The number of assemblymen is fixed at 150, while the size of the Senate is prescribed as not less than 50 and may vary with each apportionment. All members of both houses of the New York Legislature are elected for two-year terms only, in even-numbered years.

With respect to the Senate, after providing that that body should initially have 50 seats and creating 50 senatorial districts, the New York Constitution, in Art. III, § 4, as amended, provides for decennial readjustment of the size of the Senate and reapportionment of senatorial seats, beginning in 1932 and every decade thereafter, in the following manner:

'Such districts shall be so readjusted or altered that each     senate district shall contain as nearly as may be an equal      number of inhabitants, excluding aliens, and be in as compact      form as practicable, and shall remain unaltered until the      first year of the next decade as above defined, and shall at      all times consist of contiguous territory, and no county      shall be divided in the formation of a senate district except      to make two or more senate districts wholly in such county. *     *  *

'No county shall have four or more senators unless it shall     have a full ratio for each senator. No county shall have more     than one-third of all the senators; and no two counties or      the territory thereof a now organized, which are adjoining      counties, or which are separted only by public waters, shall      have more than one-half of all the senators.

'The ratio for apportioning senators shall always be obtained     by dividing the number of inhabitants, excluding aliens, by      fifty, and the senate shall always be composed of fifty      members, except that if any county having three or more      senators at the time of any apportionment shall be entitled      on such ratio to an additional senator or senators. such     additional senator or senators shall be given to such county      in addition to the fifty senators, and the whole number of      senators shall be increased to that extent.'

As interpreted by practice and judicial decision, reapportionment and readjustment of senatorial representation is accomplished in several stages. First, the total population of the State, excluding aliens, as determined by the last federal census, is divided by 50 (the minimum number of Senate seats) in order to obtain a so-called 'ratio' figure. The counties on account of which the size of the Senate might have to be increased are then ascertained-counties having three or more ratios, i.e., more than 6% of the State's total citizen population each. Under the existing apportionment, only five counties are in the 6%-or-more class, four of New York City's five counties and upstate Erie County (Buffalo and environs). Nassau County (suburban New York City) will be added to this class in the pending reapportionment based on the 1960 census. After those counties that come within the 'populous' category, so defined, have been ascertained, they are then allocated one senatorial seat for each full ratio. Fractions of a ratio are disregarded, and each populous county is thereafter divided into the appropriate number of Senate districts. In ascertaining the size of the Senate, the total number of additional seats resulting from the growth of the populous counties since 1894 is added to the 50 original seats. And, while the total number of seats whic any of the populous counties has gained since 1894 is added to the 50 original seats, the number of seats which any of them has lost since 1894 is not deducted from the total number of seats to be added. Currently the New York Senate, as reapportioned in 1953, has 58 seats. From that total, the number allocated to the populous counties is subtracted-27 under the 1953 apportionment and the remaining seats-31 under the 1953 scheme-are then apportioned among the less populous counties. When reapportioned on the basis of 1960 census figures, the Senate will have 57 seats, with 26 allotted to the populous counties, as a result of applying the constitutionally prescribed ratio and the requirement of a full ratio in order for a populous county to be given more than three Senate seats.

The second stage of applying the senatorial apportionment formula involves the allocation of seats to the less populous counties, i.e., those having less than 6% of the State's total citizen population (less than three full ratios). After the number of Senate seats allocated to the populous counties (and thus the size of the Senate) has been determined, a second population ratio figure is obtained by dividing the number of seats available for distribution to the less populous counties, 31 under both the 1950 and 1960 censuses, into the total citizen population of the less populous counties. Less populous counties which are entitled to two or three seats, as determined by comparing a county's population with the second ratio figure thus ascertained, are then divided into senatorial districts. A less populous county is entitled to three seats if it has less than three full first ratios, but has more than three, or has two and a large fraction, second rations. Since the first ratio is significantly larger than the second, a county can have less than three first ratios but more than three second ratios. Finally, counties with substantially less than one second ratio are combined into multicounty districts.

The result of applying this complicated apportionment formula is to give the populous counties markedly less senatorial representation, when compared with respective population figures, than the less populous counties. Under the 1953 apportionment, based on the 1950 census, a senator from one of the less populous counties represented, on the average, 195,859 citizens, while a senator from a populous county represented an average of 301,178. The constitutionally prescribed first ratio figure was 284,069, while the second ratio was, of course, only 195,859. Under the pending apportionment based on the 1960 census, the first ratio figure is 324,816, and the average population of the senatorial districts in the populous counties will be 366,128. On the other hand, the second ratio, and the average population of the senatorial districts in the less populous counties, is only 216,822. Thus, a citizen in a less populous county had, under the 1953 apportionment, over 1.5 times the representation, on the average, of a citizen in a populous county, and, under the apportionment based on the 1960 census, this ratio will be about 1.7-to-1.

The 1894 New York Constitution also provided for an Assembly composed of 150 members, in Art. III, § 2. Under the formula prescribed by Art. III, § 5, of the New York Constitution, each of the State's 62 counties, except Hamilton County which is combined with Fulton County for purposes of Assembly representation, is initially given one Assembly seat. The remaining 89 seats are then allocated among the various counties in accordance with a 'ratio' figure obtained by dividing the total number of seats, 150, into the State's total citizen population. Applying the constitutional formula, a county whose population is at least 1 1/2 times this ratio (1% of the total citizen population) is given one additional assemblyman. The remaining Assembly seats are then apportioned among those counties whose citizen populations total two or more whole ratios, with any remaining seats being allocated among the counties on the basis of 'highest remainders.' Finally, those counties receiving more than one seat are divided into the appropriate number of Assembly districts. In allocating 61 of the 150 Assembly seats on a basis wholly unrelated to population, and in establishing three separate categories of counties for the apportionment of Assembly representation, the constitutional provisions relating to the apportionment of Assembly seats plainly result in a favoring of the less populous counties. Under the new reapportionment based on 1960 census figures, the smallest 44 counties will each be given one seat for an average of 62,765 citizen inhabitants per seat, three counties will receive two seats each, with a total of six assemblymen representing an average of 93,478 citizen inhabitants, and the 14 most populous counties will be given the remaining 100 seats, resulting in an average representation figure of 129,183 citizen inhabitants each.

Although the New York Legislature has not yet reapportioned on the basis of 1960 census figures, the outlines of the forthcoming apportionment can be predicted with assurance. Since the rules prescribed in the New York Constitution for apportioning the Senate are so explicit and detailed, the New York Legislature has little discretion, in decennially enacting implementing statutory reapportionment provisions, except in determining which of the less populous counties are to be joined together in multicounty districts and in districting within counties having more than one senator. Similarly, the legislature has little discretion in reapportioning Assembly seats. A number of other rather detailed rules, some mandatory and some only directive, are included in the constitutional provisions prescribing the system for apportioning seats in the two houses of the New York Legislature, and are set out in Art. III, §§ 2-5, of the New York Constitution.

When the New York Legislature was reapportioned in 1953, on the basis of 1950 census figures, assemblymen representing 37.1% of the State's citizens constituted a majority in that body, and senators representing 40.9% of the citizens comprised a majority in the Senate. Under the still effective 1953 apportionment, applying 1960 census figures, assemblymen representing 34.7% of the citizens constitute a majority in the Assembly, and senators representing 41.8% of the citizens constitute a majority in that body. If reapportionment were carried out under the existing constitutional formulas, applying 1960 census figures, 37.5% of the State's citizens would reside in districts electing a majority in the Assembly, and 38.1% would live in areas electing a majority of the members of the Senate. When the State was reapportioned in 1953 on the basis of the 1950 census, the most populous Assembly district had 11.9 times as many citizens as the least populous one, and a similar ratio in the Senate was about 2.4-to-1. Under the current apportionment, applying 1960 census figures, the citizen population-variance ratio between the most populous and least populous Assembly districts is about 21-to-1, and a similar ratio in the Senate is about 3.9-to-1. If the Assembly were reapportioned under the existing constitutional formulas, the most populous Assembly district would have about 12.7 times as many citizens as the least populous one, and a similar ratio in the Senate would be about 2.6-to-1.

According to 1960 census figures, the six counties where the six individual appellants reside had a citizen population of 9,129,780, or 56.2% of the State's total citizen population of 16,240,786. They are currently represented by 72 assemblymen and 28 senators-48% of the Assembly and 48.3% of the Senate. When the legislature reapportions on the basis of the 1960 census figures, these six counties will have 26 Senate seats and 69 Assembly seats, or 45.6% and 46%, respectively, of the seats in the two houses. The 10 most heavily populated counties in New York, with about 73.5% of the total citizen population, are given, under the current apportionment, 38 Senate seats, 65.5% of the membership of that body, and 93 Assembly seats, 62% of the seats in that house. When the legislature reapportions on the basis of the 1960 census figures, these same 10 counties will be given 37 Senate seats and 92 Assembly seats, 64.9% and 61.3%, respectively, of the membership of the two houses. The five counties comprising New York City have 45.7% of the State's total citizen population, and are given, under the current apportionment, 43.1% of the Senate seats and 43.3% of the seats in the Assembly. When the legislature reapportions on the basis of the 1960 census figures, these same counties will be given 36.8% and 37.3%, respectively, of the membership of the two houses.

Under the existing senatorial apportionment, applying 1960 census figures, Suffolk County's one senator represents a citizen population of 650,112, and Nassau County's three senators represent an average of 425,267 citizens each. The least populous senatorial d strict, on the other hand, comprising Saratoga, Warren, and Essex Counties, has a total population of only 166,715. Under the forthcoming reapportionment based on the 1960 census, Nassau County will again be allocated only three Senate seats, with an average population of 425,267, while the least populous senatorial district, which will probably comprise Putnam and Rockland Counties, will have a citizen population of only 162,840. Onondaga County, with a total citizen population of 414,770, less than the average population of each Nassau County district, will nevertheless be given two Senate seats. Because of the effect of the full-ratio requirement applicable only to the populous counties, Nassau County, despite the fact that its citizen population increased from 655,690 to 1,275,801, will not obtain a single additional senatorial seat as a result of the reapportionment based on 1960 census figures. And Monroe County, with a citizen population of 571,029, since not having more than 6% of the State's total citizen population, will have the same number of senators under the new apportionment, three, as Nassau County, although it has less than half that county's population. New York City's 20 senators will represent an average citizen population of 360,193 while the 15 multicounty senatorial districts to be created upstate will have an average of only 207,528 citizens per district. Because of the operation of the full-ratio rule with respect to counties having more than 6% of the State's total citizen population each, the unrepresented remainders (above a full first ratio but short of another full first ratio which is required for an additional Senate seat) in three of the urban counties will be as follows: Nassau, 301,353; New York, 284,805; and Kings, 244,798. Thus, over 800,000 citizens will not be counted in the apportionment of Senate seats, even though the unrepresented remainders in two of these three counties equal or exceed the statewide average population of 284,926 citizens per district. Furthermore, the effect of the rule requiring an increase in the number of Senate seats because of the entitlement of populous counties to added senatorial representation, coupled with the failure to reduce the size of the Senate because of reductions in the number of seats to which a populous county is entitled (as compared with its senatorial representation in 1894), is that the comparative voting power of the populous counties in the Senate decreases as their share of the State's total population increases.

With respect to the Assembly, the six assemblymen currently elected from Nassau County represent an average citizen population of 212,634, and one of that county's current Assembly districts has a citizen population of 314,721. Suffolk County's three assemblymen presently represent an average of 216,704 citizens. On the other hand, the least populous Assembly district, Schuyler County, has a citizen population, according to the 1960 census, of only 14,974, and yet, in accordance with the constitutional formula, is allocated one Assembly seat. Under the new apportionment, Schuyler County will again be given one Assembly seat, whil one projected Monroe County district will have a citizen population of 190,343 and an Assembly district in Suffolk County will have over 170,000 citizens. Additionally, the average population of the 54 Assembly districts in New York City's four populous counties will be in excess of 132,000 citizens each.

Under the 1953 apportionment, based on 1950 census figures, the most populous Assembly district, in Onondaga County, had a citizen population of 167,226, while the least populous district was that comprising Schuyler County, with only 14,066 citizens. In the Senate, the most populous districts were the four in Bronx County, averaging 344,545 citizens each, while the least populous district had a citizen population of only 146,666.

No adequate political remedy to obtain relief against alleged legislative malapportionment appears to exist in New York. No initiative procedure exists under New York law. A proposal to amend the State Constitution can be submitted to a vote by the State's electorate only after approval by a majority of both houses of two successive sessions of the New York Legislature. A majority vote of both houses of the legislature is also required before the electorate can vote on the calling of a constitutional convention. Additionally, under New York law the question of whether a constitutional convention should be called must be submitted to the electorate every 20 years, commencing in 1957. But even if a constitutional convention were convened, the same alleged discrimination which currently exists in the apportionment of Senate seats against each of the counties having 6% or more of a State's citizen population would be perpetuated in the election of convention delegates. And, since the New York Legislature has rather consistently complied with the state constitutional requirement for decennial legislative reapportionment in accordance with the rather explicit constitutional rules, enacting effective apportionment statutes in 1907, 1917, 1943, and 1953, judicial relief in the state courts to remedy the alleged malapportionment was presumably unavailable.

In Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U.S. 533, 84 S.Ct. 1362, decided also this date, we held that the Equal Protection Clause requires that seats in both houses of a bicameral state legislature must be apportioned substantially on a population basis. Neither house of the New York Legislature, under the state constitutional formulas and the implementing statutory provisions here attacked, is presently or, when reapportioned on the basis of 1960 census figures, will be apportioned sufficiently on a population basis to be constitutionally sustainable. Accordingly, we hold that the District Court erred in upholding the constitutionality of New York's scheme of legislative apportionment.

We have examined the state constitutional formulas governing legislative apportionment in New York in a detailed fashion in order to point out that, as a result of following these provisions, the weight of the votes of those living in populous areas is of necessity substantially diluted in effect. However complicated or sophisticated an apportionment scheme might be, it cannot, consistent with the Equal Protection Clause, result in a significant undervaluation of the weight of the votes of certain of a State's citizens merely because of where they happen to reside. New York's constitutional formulas relating to legislative apportionment demonstrably include a built-in bias against voters living in the State's more populous counties. And the legislative representation accorded to the urban and suburban areas becomes proportionately less as the population of those areas increases. With the size of the Assembly fixed at 150, with a substantial number of Assembly seats distributed to sparsely populated counties without regard to population, and with an additional seat given to counties having 1 1/2 population ratios, the population-variance ratios between the more populous and the less populous counties will continually increase so long as population growth proceeds at a disparate rate in various areas of the State. With respect to the Senate, significantly different population ratio figures are used in determining the number of Senate seats to be given to the more populous and the less populous counties, and the more populous counties are required to have full first ratios in order to be entitled to additional senatorial representation. Also, in ascertaining the size of the Senate, the number of seats by which the senatorial representation of the more populous counties has increased since 1894 is added to 50, but the number of Senate seats that some of the more populous counties have lost since 1894 is not subtracted from that figure. Thus, an increasingly smaller percentage of the State's population will, in all probability, reside in senatorial districts electing a majority of the members of that body. Despite the opaque intricacies of New York's constitutional formulas relating to legislative apportionment, when the effect of these provisions, and the statutes implementing them, on the right to vote of those individuals living in the disfavored areas of the State is considered, we conclude that neither the existing scheme nor the forthcoming one can be constitutionally condoned.

We find it inappropriate to discuss questions relating to remedies at the present time, beyond what we said in our opinion in Reynolds. Since all members of both houses of the New York Legislature will be elected in November 1964, the court below, acting under equitable principles, must now determine whether, because of the imminence of that election and in order to give the New York Legislature an opportunity to fashion a constitutionally valid legislative apportionment plan, it would be desirable to permit the 1964 election of legislators to be conducted pursuant to the existing provisions, or whether under the circumstances the effectuation of appellants' right to a properly weighted voice in the election of state legislators should not be delayed beyond the 1964 election. We therefore reverse the decision below and remand the case to the District Court for further proceedings consistent with the views stated here and in our opinion in Reynolds v. Sims. It is so ordered.

Reversed and remanded.

Dissenting opinion by Mr. Justice STEWART printed in No. 508, Lucas v. Forty-fourth General Assembly of Colorado, 377 U.S. 744, 84 S.Ct. 1477.

Dissenting opinion by Mr. Justice HARLAN printed in Nos. 23, 27 and 41, Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U.S. 589, 84 S.Ct. 1395.