LUCAS v. RHODES(1967)
Reversed and remanded.
Jack G. Day, Russell T. Adrine, Richard Gunn and Kenneth G. Weinberg for appellants.
William B. Saxbe, Attorney General of Ohio, and J. Philip Redick, Assistant Attorney General, for appellees.
PER CURIAM.
The judgment is reversed and the cause is remanded to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. Wesberry v. Sanders, 376 U.S. 1 (1964).
MR. JUSTICE MARSHALL took no part in the consideration or decision of this case.
MR. JUSTICE HARLAN, with whom MR. JUSTICE STEWART joins, dissenting.
Because of the uninformative nature of the Court's reversal, some exposition of the issue in this case is necessary as a predicate for my view that the judgment of the District Court should be affirmed. My point of departure is, of course, Wesberry v. Sanders, 376 U.S. 1 , a decision with which I am in continuing disagreement, see 376 U.S., at 20 et seq., 50-51, but by which I consider myself bound.
The appellants, Ohio voters, challenge the constitutionality of Ohio's 1964 congressional redistricting statute. They assert that the redistricting plan does not satisfy the standard of population equality laid down in Wesberry v. Sanders, supra, because some of the resulting [389 U.S. 212, 213] districts vary as much as 13% above and 18% below the population average, according to the 1960 census. In the District Court, the appellees, state officials, defended on the ground that the Ohio Legislature had properly taken into account unofficial, post-1960 population figures which were available for some counties, and which seemed to bring the 1964 redistricting into line with Wesberry.
The majority below apparently held that these unofficial population statistics were insufficient to justify the disparity among districts because they were too unreliable and not available for all areas. However, the majority went on to uphold the districting plan because
I would affirm the judgment of the District Court. [389 U.S. 212, 214]