equal protection

In Reynolds v. Sims, supra, the Equal Protection Clause was applied to the apportionment of state legislatures. Every qualified resident, Reynolds determined, has the right to a ballot for election of state legislators of equal weight to the vote of every other resident, and that right is infringed when legislators are elected from districts of substantially unequal population. The question now before us is whether the Fourteenth Amendment likewise forbids the election of local government officials from districts of disparate population. As has 479*479 almost every court which has addressed itself to this question,[3] we hold that it does.[4]

The Equal Protection Clause reaches the exercise of state power however manifested, whether exercised directly or through subdivisions of the State.

"Thus the prohibitions of the Fourteenth Amendment extend to all action of the State denying 480*480 equal protection of the laws; whatever the agency of the State taking the action . . . ." Cooper v. Aaron, 358 U. S. 1, 17 (1958).

in reference to: Avery v. Midland County, 390 US 474 - Supreme Court 1968 - Google Scholar (view on Google Sidewiki)