In this Supreme Court case it was ruled that the state of Alabama discriminated against African American voters in the rural counties in the southern part of the state in favor of the urban counties in the north. South Alabama had "...many times the voting strength of the more urban north, allowing the old planter elite to control the Legislature". The issue here is "apportionment" or in this case "reapportionment". There were other cases that were part of the "one-person, one-vote" ruling. These cases improved the voting strength of blacks and urban voters. The case was argued by an Alabamian, Charles Morgan Jr., who died this week. Morgan also represented Muhammad Ali in his successful challenge to the draft during the Vietnam War.
(Source: "Lawyer fought Alabama's status quo on racial issues" by Roy Reed of New York Times; obituary reprinted in the Virginian Pilot on January 12, 2009.)
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