Gomillion v. Lightfoot
| Gomillion v. Lightfoot | |
|---|---|
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| Argued October 18–19, 1960 Decided November 14, 1960 |
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| Full case name | Gomillion et al. v. Lightfoot, Mayor of Tuskegee, et al. |
| Citations | 364 U.S. 339 (more)
364 U.S. 339; 81 S. Ct. 125; 5 L. Ed. 2d 110; 1960 U.S. LEXIS 189
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| Prior history | Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit |
| Holding | |
| Electoral district boundaries drawn only to disenfranchise blacks violate the Fifteenth Amendment. | |
| Court membership | |
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| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Frankfurter, joined by Warren, Black, Douglas, Clark, Harlan, Brennan, Stewart |
| Concurrence | Whittaker |
| Laws applied | |
| U.S. Const. amend. XV | |
Gomillion v. Lightfoot, 364 U.S. 339 (1960), was a United States Supreme Court decision that found an electoral district with boundaries created to disenfranchise blacks violated the Fifteenth Amendment.
In the city of Tuskegee, Alabama, after passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957, activists had been slowly making progress in registering African-American voters, whose numbers on the rolls began to approach those of white registered voters. The city was the location of the Tuskegee Institute, a historically black college, and a large Veterans Administration hospital, both staffed entirely by African Americans.
In terms of total population, African Americans outnumbered whites in the city by a four-to-one margin, and whites were worried about being governed by the majority. Local white residents lobbied the Alabama legislature to redefine the boundaries of the city. Without debate in 1957 and ignoring African-American protests, the legislature enacted Local Law 140, to form a 28-sided city boundary by which nearly all African-American voters would be excluded and no whites would be. Charles G. Gomillion, a professor at Tuskegee, and other African Americans protested; community activists mounted a boycott against white-owned businesses in the city. The act was written by state legislator Engelhardt, who was executive secretary of the White Citizens' Council of Alabama and an advocate of white supremacy. Professor Gomillion and others filed suit against the city mayor and other officials, claiming that the act was discriminatory in purpose under the Fourteenth Amendment's due process and equal protection clause.
The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, located in the capital of Montgomery, headed by Judge Frank M. Johnson, dismissed the case, ruling that the state had the right to draw boundaries of election districts and jurisdictions. This ruling was upheld by the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans.
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