Moody v. Flowers Board of Supervisors of Suffolk County, New York v. Bianchi, Nos. 624
| Court | United States Supreme Court |
| Writing for the Court | DOUGLAS |
| Citation | 18 L.Ed.2d 643,387 U.S. 97,87 S.Ct. 1544 |
| Parties | Earle C. MOODY et al., Appellants, v. Richmond M. FLOWERS et al. BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF SUFFOLK COUNTY, NEW YORK et al., Appellants, v. I. William BIANCHI, Jr., et al |
| Docket Number | 491,Nos. 624 |
| Decision Date | 22 May 1967 |
v.
Richmond M. FLOWERS et al. BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF SUFFOLK COUNTY, NEW YORK et al., Appellants, v. I. William BIANCHI, Jr., et al.
No. 624:
[Syllabus from pages 97-98 intentionally omitted]
Page 98
Charles S. Rhyne, Washington, D.C., for appellants.
Truman Hobbs, Montgomery, Ala., for appellees.
No. 491:
Stanley S. Corwin, Greenport, N.Y., for appellants.
Frederick Block, Port Jefferson Station, N.Y., and Richard C. Cahn, Huntington, N.Y., for appellees.
Nos. 624, 491:
Francis X. Beytagh, Jr., Cleveland, Ohio, for the United States, as amicus curiae, pro hac vice, by special leave of Court.
Page 99
Mr. Justice DOUGLAS delivered the opinion of the Court.
The threshold question in these cases is whether this Court has jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1253 on direct appeals from the decisions of the respective District Courts purportedly convened pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2281. The answer to that question in turn depends upon whether the three-judge courts in these cases were properly convened.
In No. 624, appellants attack the validity of an Alabama statute (Ala.Laws 1957, Act No. 9 p. 30) prescribing the apportionment and districting scheme for electing members of the Houston County Board of Revenue and Control. Under the statute, the Board consists of five members, each elected by the qualified electors of the district of which he is a resident. The challenged statute prescribes the areas constituting the various districts. The action is brought against the appellees, including some state officials, seeking a declaration that the statute is invalid and an injunction prohibiting its enforcement, and requesting that the court order at-large elections until the State Legislature redistricts and reapportions the Board on a population basis. The theory is that the apportionment and districting scheme results in the over representation of certain areas and the under-representation of others. The complaint also requested
Page 100
the convening of a three-judge court. A three-judge court was convened and the complaint was dismissed. D.C., 256 F.Supp. 195. We noted probable jurisdiction, 385 U.S. 966, 87 S.Ct. 499, 17 L.Ed.2d 431.
In No. 491, appellees brought an action against appellants, members of the Suffolk County Board of Supevi sors, seeking a declaration that so much of § 203 of the Suffolk County Charter (N.Y. Laws 1958, c. 278) as provides that each supervisor shall have one vote as a member of the Suffolk County Board of Supervisors violates the Fourteenth Amendment and an injunction prohibiting the appellants from acting as a Board of Supervisors unless and until a change in their voting strength is made, and requesting the convening of a three-judge court. The 10 towns of Suffolk County, New York, elect, by popular vote, a supervisor every two years. The supervisor is the town's representative on the Suffolk County Board of Supervisors. Suffolk County Charter § 201. And, each supervisor is entitled to one vote on the County Board of Supervisors. Suffolk County Charter § 203. Pursuant to Art. 9, §§ 1 and 2, of the New York Constitution, the State Legislature approved a charter for the county containing, inter alia, the above provisions. N.Y. Laws 1958, c. 278.
Appellees claim that granting each supervisor one vote regardless of the population of the town which elected him results in an over representation of the towns with small populations and underrepresentation of towns with large populations.
A three-judge court was convened and it declared § 203 of the Suffolk County Charter invalid because in conflict with the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and ordered the Board to submit to the county electorate a plan for reconstruction of the Board so as to insure voter equality. D.C., 256 F.Supp. 617. We noted probable jurisdiction. Sailors v. Board of Education of County of Kent, 385 U.S. 966, 87 S.Ct. 499, 17 L.Ed.2d 431.
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This Court has jurisdiction of these direct appeals under 28 U.S.C. § 1253 only if the respective actions were 'required * * * to be heard and determined by a district court of three judges.' Section 2281 of 28 U.S.C. requires that a three-judge court be convened in any case in which a preliminary or permanent injunction is sought to restrain 'the enforcement, operation or execution of any State statute by restraining the action of any officer of such State in the enforcement or execution of such statute * * *.' The purpose of § 2281 is 'to prevent a single federal judge from being able to paralyze totally the operation of an entire regulatory scheme * * * by issuance of a broad injunctive order' (Kennedy v. Mendoza-Martinez, 372 U.S. 144, 154, 83 S.Ct. 554,...
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