Historical Circumstances (background of the case)
Charles Bakewas a resident of Shelby County, Tennessee who filed suit against Joe Carr, the Secretary of State of Tennessee. Baker’s complaint was that the Tennessee legislature had not redrawn its legislative districts since 1901. This was perceived as a conflict to a Baker since he lived in an urban part of the state. He had made it clear that the demographics of the state had changed meaning this should shift a greater proportion of the population to the cities, thereby reducing the value of his vote. By Baker's lawsuit, there was a major change in the population of his district in Shelby County. The urban district had approximately ten times as many residents of the rural districts. This angered Baker even more now being that the votes of those who lived in rural districts were being represented in numbers that were disproportionately high compared to those of urban …show more content…
The equal protection clause guarantees every citizen of the United States to be treated equally and without bias with regard to their pursuit of happiness. The 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution protects an individual's rights to pursue a happy life therefore it forbids the government from disrupting that. This was considered to be a constitutional issue because Baker could consider the government trying to prevent him from pursuing a happy life. Another constitutional issue that was brought about in this case was unfair advantages that were present with the creation of the law. Article III of the United States Constitution states "that the Federal Government is allowed to rule over all laws in the event that unfair advantages are present with the creation of a law." This law was created to ensure all citizens throughout the United States were give an equal legal