Board of Estimate of City of New York v. Morris
1989 United States Supreme Court case
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Board of Estimate of City of New York v. Morris, 489 U.S. 688 (1989), was a case argued before the United States Supreme Court regarding the constitutionality of the New York City Board of Estimate. The Court invoked the one person, one vote principle emanating from the Equal Protection Clause; extending the principle in Reynolds v. Sims to municipal government, the Board's structure was ruled to be unconstitutional. It was subsequently abolished by an amendment to the New York City Charter.
| Board of Estimate of City of New York v. Morris | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Argued December 7, 1988 Decided March 22, 1989 | |
| Full case name | Board of Estimate of City of New York, et al. v. Morris, et al. |
| Citations | 489 U.S. 688 (more) 109 S. Ct. 1433; 103 L. Ed. 2d 717 |
| Holding | |
| The Board of Estimate's structure is inconsistent with the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because, although the boroughs have widely disparate populations, each has equal representation on the board. | |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | White, joined by Rehnquist, Marshall, O'Connor, Scalia, Kennedy |
| Concurrence | Brennan, joined by Stevens |
| Concurrence | Blackmun |
| Laws applied | |
| U.S. Const. amend XIV | |
Background
Under the charter of the City of Greater New York established in 1898, the Board of Estimate was responsible for budget and land-use decisions for the city. It was composed of eight ex officio members: the Mayor of New York City, the New York City Comptroller and the President of the New York City Council, each of whom was elected citywide and had two votes, and the five Borough presidents, each having one vote.[1]
In 1981, attorney Richard Emery recruited three NYC women to file suit that the board was unconstitutional, an unpopular opinion at the time that lost in its first district court hearing. The ruling was later reversed on appeal, and the city's counter was picked up by the Supreme Court in 1988.[2]
Opinion of the Court
The court unanimously declared the New York City Board of Estimate unconstitutional on the grounds that the city's most populous borough (Brooklyn) had no greater effective representation on the board than the city's least populous borough (Staten Island), in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause pursuant to the Court's 1964 "one man, one vote" decision (Reynolds v. Sims).[3]
The case was argued on December 7, 1988, and decided on March 22, 1989. Justice Byron White delivered the Court's opinion.
Following the ruling, a commission was set up to revise the New York City Charter, which proposed a revised frame of government which abolished the Board and made the New York City Council the unicameral municipal legislature. This proposal (which also involved substantial reorganization of other parts of the city government) was accepted by 55% of city voters in a referendum held at the 1989 municipal election, and the Board ceased to exist on August 31, 1990.
