No. 23-1331

William Christopher Schroeder v. United States

Lower Court: Ninth Circuit
Docketed: 2024-06-21
Status: Denied
Type: Paid
Response Waived
Tags: congressional-apportionment constitutional-interpretation electoral-representation equal-representation-in-house political-question-doctrine population-based-apportionment standing standing-doctrine us-constitution-amendment-14-section-2 us-constitution-article-1-section-2 vote-dilution voting-power-dilution
Key Terms:
Securities Trademark JusticiabilityDoctri
Latest Conference: 2024-09-30
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Do U.S. CONST. amend. XIV, § 2, and U.S. CONST. art. I, § 2, require that each Member of the House of Representatives be elected from constituencies comprised of approximately the same number of residents?

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

QUESTIONS PRESENTED . 1. Representation in the House is not determined by population. U.S. Census Bureau Apportionment Tables show the gap between the states with the largest House districts (Delaware — 990,837; Idaho — 920,689; West Virginia — 897,523) and the states with the smallest House districts (Montana — 542,704; Rhode Island — 549,082; Wyoming — 577,719) is approaching 500,000 persons. This Court has held that “each representative must be accountable to (approximately) the same number of constituents.” Rucho v. Common Cause, 588 U.S. 684, 708 (2019); Dept. of Commerce v. New York, 588 U.S. _, 189 S.Ct. 2551, 2586 (2019) (Breyer, J., concurring in part). Do U.S. CONST. amend. XIV, § 2, and U.S. CONST. art. I, § 2, require that each Member of the House of Representatives be elected from constituencies comprised of approximately the same number of residents? 2. The “Number of Electors” to which each “State may be entitled” for elections for the President and the Vice-President is “equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives” of each State “in the Congress[.]” Does U.S. CONST. art. II, § 1, require that each Member of the House of Representatives be elected from constituencies comprised of approximately the same number of residents, so that the “Number of Electors” assigned each state is determined by each state’s respective population? 3. This Court has held that a voter who resides in a district which has diluted voting power relative to other districts has Article III standing. Gill v. Whitford, 585 US. 48, 65-67 (2018); Dept. of Commerce, et al., v. United States House of Representatives, et al., 525 U.S. 316, 334 (1999) (“[VJote dilution satisfies the injuryin-fact, causation, and redressability requirements.”). Appellant, .a Washington voter (ii) (district population: 771,595), has 0.703 of a vote in federal elections for the Presidency and Vice-Presidency, and for the House, as compared to a Montana voter (district population: 542,704). [542,704 / 771,595 = 0.703] Did the Court of Appeals err in holding that Appellant lacked standing? 4, This Court has held that “the interpretation of the apportionment provisions of the Constitution is well within the competence of the Judiciary. ... The political question doctrine presents no bar to our reaching the merits of this dispute[.]” Dept. of Commerce v. Montana, 503 U.S. 442, 458-59 (1992). Did the Court of Appeals err in holding that Appellant’s claims were barred by the political question doctrine? (ii)

Docket Entries

2024-10-07
Petition DENIED.
2024-07-24
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/30/2024.
2024-07-22
Waiver of United States of right to respond submitted.
2024-07-22
Waiver of right of respondent United States to respond filed.
2024-06-11

Attorneys

United States
Elizabeth B. Prelogar — Respondent
William Christopher Schroeder
William Christopher Schroeder — Petitioner