Wright v. Rockefeller

Wright v. Rockefeller
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued November 19, 1963
Decided February 17, 1964
Full case nameWright et al. v. Rockefeller, Governor of New York, et al.
Citations376 U.S. 52 (more)
84 S. Ct. 603; 11 L. Ed. 2d 512; 1964 U.S. LEXIS 1774
Case history
PriorJudgment for defendants, injunction denied 211 F. Supp. 460 (S.D.N.Y. 1962)
Holding
A New York statute that delineated the boundaries of the congressional district in Manhattan Island did not segregate eligible voters by race and place of origin in violation of the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment and in violation of the Fifteenth Amendment. Judgment of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York affirmed.
Court membership
Chief Justice
Earl Warren
Associate Justices
Hugo Black · William O. Douglas
Tom C. Clark · John M. Harlan II
William J. Brennan Jr. · Potter Stewart
Byron White · Arthur Goldberg
Case opinions
MajorityBlack, joined by Warren, Clark, Harlan, Brennan, Stewart, White
ConcurrenceHarlan
DissentDouglas, joined by Goldberg
DissentGoldberg, joined by Douglas
Laws applied
U.S. Const. Amend. XIV; U.S. Const. Amend. XV; N.Y. State Law § 111.

Wright v. Rockefeller, 376 U.S. 52 (1964), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that in cases involving allegations of improper racial gerrymandering, where the evidence was "equally, or more, persuasive" that racial considerations had not motivated the state legislature, the court will give deference to the findings of the district court.[1]

  1. ^ Wright v. Rockefeller, 376 U.S. 52 (1964).