AP US Government Required Cases: Baker v. Carr and Shaw v. Reno

Vocabulary flashcards covering the key terms, legal doctrines, figures, and Supreme Court rulings from the lecture transcript on Baker v. Carr (1962) and Shaw v. Reno (1993).

Baker v. Carr (1962)

A landmark Supreme Court case (369 U.S. 186) holding that federal courts have jurisdiction to enforce the Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection clause against state officials if state legislative districts are disproportionately populated.

Shaw v. Reno (1993)

A Supreme Court case (509 U.S. 630) dealing with redistricting and racial gerrymandering, holding that claims of racial gerrymandering must be evaluated under a strict scrutiny standard under the Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection clause.

Charles Baker

A voter in Shelby County, Tennessee, who filed a lawsuit arguing that his vote was diluted in a large-population district because state lawmakers had not revised legislative districts since the 1900 census, violating the Fourteenth Amendment.

Janet Reno

The U.S. Attorney General who rejected North Carolina's initial redistricting plan and required the General Assembly to create a second minority-majority district under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.

Political Question

A doctrine previously invoked by federal courts to routinely dismiss legislative apportionment cases on the grounds that they were not suitable for judicial decision making.

Justiciable

The legal classification established for legislative apportionment cases in Baker v. Carr, meaning that such disputes are proper to be reviewed and decided in court.

Strict Scrutiny Standard

A legal standard requiring the government to prove that a measure or policy furthers a compelling interest, is narrowly tailored to achieve that interest, and uses the least restrictive means necessary.

Minority-Majority District

A legislative district drawn intentionally with boundaries that make a racial or ethnic minority the majority of the district's population to help elect a minority representative.

Twelfth Congressional District of North Carolina

An oddly shaped minority-majority district drawn after the 1990 census that stretched approximately 160 miles along Interstate 85 and was for much of its length no wider than the I-85 corridor.

Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act

A statutory provision requiring jurisdictions with a history of discrimination against African American voters to submit changes in voting procedures, including redistricting, to the federal government for approval.

Shaw v. Hunt (1996)

A subsequent 5-4 Supreme Court decision following Shaw v. Reno in which North Carolina's Twelfth Congressional District was found unconstitutional a second time under the Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection clause.

Redistricting

The process by which a state redraws legislative or congressional district boundaries to reflect internal population shifts and changes in representative allocations following a census.

Shelby County

The Tennessee county containing Memphis that grew substantially between 1901 and 1950 but maintained only one representative in the state general assembly, equal to rural counties with far smaller populations.

Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment

The constitutional provision invoked in both Baker v. Carr and Shaw v. Reno to challenge state legislative apportionment and race-based redistricting plans.

Congressional Unit Required Documents

The group of foundational documents and cases cited relative to the Congressional unit: Federalist No. 51, Baker v. Carr (1962), Shaw v. Reno (1993), McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), and Gibbons v. Ogden (1824).