Davis v. Mann (1963)
- Docket
- 69
- Decided
- 1963-01-01
- Category
- General
Summary
Question: Did Virginia's apportionment scheme violate the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause? Conclusion: Yes. In an 8-to-1 decision, the Court noted that under the Fourteenth Amendment all bicameral state legislatures must substantially apportion both seats of their houses on a population basis. In Virginia's case, neither of its legislative houses was apportioned on a population basis. Virginia's claim that the underrepresented counties were composed primarily of military personnel and their families, who often only resided in the state for relatively short periods of time, did not constitute a defense to its actions. Instead, this amounted to discrimination against a class of individuals merely because of the nature of their employment.