three-judge court, Phillips, X, dissenting
How later courts described this case
- three-judge court, Phillips, X, dissenting
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
WILLIAM E. MILLER, District Judge
(concurring):
I concur in the conclusions of Judge Gray on all issues.
To deny the application of the “one man, one vote” principle to subordinate bodies possessing important legislative functions would be to ignore the reason underlying the principle, i. e., the protection of voting rights against invidious discrimination brought about by state action. Indeed, in many respects the right to vote for members of a local governing body accorded by state law, (such as a quarterly county court under the Tennessee system) may be just as valuable as the right to vote for members of the state legislative assembly. I am unable to find any valid reason why the state should be prohibited from debasing the right to vote for members of a state legislature and yet be free to debase the right to vote for members of agencies as important in our system as the county governing bodies. To be sure, most of the powers of county courts in Tennessee are conferred by state law and are subject to withdrawal and modification at the will of the General Assembly. To me this is of no consequence here. The crucial and determinative considerations are that they are in fact vested with important legislative functions and their membership is determined by popular vote under state law. To deny such voting rights the Fourteenth Amendment’s protection against discriminatory treatment would be in my view an abdication of judicial responsibility.