Constitutional Law Keyed to Chemerinsky
Davis v. Bandemer
Facts
The Republican-controlled state legislature adopted Indiana’s 1981 state apportionment plan which provided for state senate and house districts of substantially equal population. The Democrats claimed that the plan diluted their votes by using a mix of single and multimembered districts and gerrymandering district lines. The District Court held that the political gerrymandering claim is justiciable and that the challengers had proved an equal protection violation. Further, the District Court held that because any apportionment scheme that purposely prevents proportional representation is unconstitutional, Democratic voters need only show that their proportionate voting influence has been adversely affected.
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