Commonwealth ex rel. Specter v. Levin

293 A.2d 15, 448 Pa. 1, 1972 Pa. LEXIS 427
CourtSupreme Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJune 5, 1972
DocketAppeals, Nos. 54, 56 to 59, inclusive, 61 to 71, inclusive, 73 and 74
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 293 A.2d 15 (Commonwealth ex rel. Specter v. Levin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth ex rel. Specter v. Levin, 293 A.2d 15, 448 Pa. 1, 1972 Pa. LEXIS 427 (Pa. 1972).

Opinions

Order

Per Curiam :

And Now, this seventh day of February, 1972, upon consideration of the above appeals, we find that the Final Reapportionment Plan of the Pennsylvania [5]*5State Legislative Beapportionment Commission filed on December 29, 1971, is in compliance with the mandates of the Federal and Pennsylvania Constitutions and therefore shall have the force of law. Hence it is ordered that said Plan filed on December 29, 1971, shall be used in the forthcoming Primary and General Elections of 1972 and thereafter shall remain in force and effect until constitutionally altered.

June 5, 1972: Mr. Chief Justice Jones, Mr. Justice Pomeroy and Mr. Justice Manderino dissent.

Opinions to follow.

Opinion by

On February 7, 1972, after oral argument on 17 of the 18 above-captioned appeals,1 this Court entered an order declaring that the final plan for the reapportionment of the Pennsylvania Senate and House of Bepresentatives filed by the Pennsylvania Legislative Beapportionment Commission was in compliance with the requirements of the United States Constitution and the Constitution of this Commonwealth.2 In that order we indicated that opinions would follow. This opinion is in response to that order.

I

The reapportionment plan that is attacked by appellants is the first work product of the Pennsylvania Legislative Beapportionment Commission established by an amendment to the Pennsylvania Constitution in 1968.3 Prior to 1968 reapportionment of the Pennsyl[6]*6vania Legislature was effected by . act of tbe General Assembly.4

The Legislative Reapportionment Commission consists of five members. Four of the members are the majority, and minority leaders of both the Senate and the House of Representatives, or deputies appointed by each of them.5 The fifth member is the chairman of the Commission.6 The chairman is selected either by the four other members of the Commission, or, if those four members fail to select a chairman within the time prescribed, the chairman is selected by this Court.7 The Commission acts by a majority vote of its membership.8

The advantages of assigning the responsibility for reapportioning the Legislature to such a commission are quite obvious, and several other states have recently adopted or considered proposals for similar commissions.9 The equal representation on the Commission provided to the majority and minority members of each house precludes the reapportionment process from being unfairly dominated by the party in power at the moment of apportionment. In addition, the provision for a chairman who can act as a “tie-breaker” eliminates the possibility of a legislative deadlock on reapportionment such as the one that occurred in the Legis[7]*7lature of this Commonwealth in 1965 and compelled this Court to undertake the task of reapportionment.10 At the same time the Legislature’s expertise in reapportionment matters is essentially retained.11

II

In its epic decision on state legislative apportionment in Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U.S. 533, 84 S. Ct. 1362 (1964), the United States Supreme Court held: “[T]he Equal Protection Clause requires that a State make an honest and good faith effort to construct districts, in both houses of its legislature, as nearly of equal population as is practicable.”12 The Court went on to approve “divergences from a strict population standard [that] are based on legitimate considerations incident to the effectuation of a rational state policy,”13 but cautioned that these divergences must not dilute the equal-population principle “in any significant way.”14 The Court held: “[T]he overriding objective must be substantial equality of population among the various districts. . . .”15

Section 16 of Article II of the Pennsylvania Constitution, in addition to incorporating the “as-nearly-of-equal-population-as-is-praeticable” mandate of Reynolds, establishes two other factors which a plan for reapportionment of the Pennsylvania Legislature is to meet. That section provides: “The Commonwealth shall be di[8]*8vided into fifty senatorial and two hundred three representative districts, which shall be composed of compact and contiguous territory as nearly equal in population as practicable. . . . Unless absolutely necessary no county, city, incorporated town, borough, township or ward shall be divided in forming either a senatorial or representative district.”16 In Reynolds, Section 16’s additional objectives for reapportionment plans were specifically recognized as legitimate considerations which can justify some divergences from a strict population standard. The Court held: “A State may legitimately desire to maintain the integrity of various political subdivisions, insofar as possible, and provide for compact districts of contiguous territory in designing a legislative apportionment scheme. Valid considerations may underlie such aims.”17

However, in light of the fact that the Equal Protection Clause requires that in any reapportionment scheme “the overriding objectives must be substantial equality of population,”18 it is not constitutionally permissible to totally achieve Section 16’s objective of respecting the boundaries of political subdivisions. As the Supreme Court explained in Reynolds: “[Permitting deviations from population-based representation [9]*9does not mean that each local governmental unit or political subdivision can be given separate representation, regardless of population. Carried too far, a scheme of giving at least one seat in one house to each political subdivision . . . could easily result, in many States, in a total subversion of the equal-population principle in that legislative body. . . . [I]f, even as a result of a clearly rational state policy of according some legislative representation to political subdivisions, population is submerged as the controlling consideration in the apportionment of seats in the particular legislative body, then the right of all the State’s citizens to cast an effective and adequately weighted vote would be unconstitutionally impaired.”19

In addition, Section 10’s desire for districts that are “compact” must also yield, if need be, to the “overriding objective . . . [of] substantial equality of population.”20 Moreover, attempts to maintain the integrity of the boundaries of political subdivisions unless it is “'absolutely necessary” to do otherwise will in reality make it impossible to achieve districts of precise mathematical compactness.21 A great many, if not most of the counties, cities, towns, boroughs, townships and wards in this Commonwealth have a geographical shape which falls far short of ideal mathematical compactness.22

[10]

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Bluebook (online)
293 A.2d 15, 448 Pa. 1, 1972 Pa. LEXIS 427, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-ex-rel-specter-v-levin-pa-1972.