Rogers v. Lodge

Rogers v. Lodge, 458 U.S. 613 (1982), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that an at-large election system for a large rural county with a large black population violated the Equal Protection Clause.

Finding that blacks have always made up a substantial majority of the county's population but that they are a minority of the registered voters, that there had been bloc voting along racial lines, and that past discrimination had restricted the present opportunity of blacks to participate effectively in the political process, the District Court held that although the state policy behind the at-large electoral system was "neutral in origin," the policy was being maintained for invidious purposes in violation of plaintiffs' Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendment rights.

The Court held that there was sufficient evidence to support a finding that the African-American citizens had been invidiously excluded from the political process by the county's system of elections.

The Court found that the sheer geographic size of the county made it difficult for the African-American citizens to get to polling places or to campaign for office.

Justice Stevens dissented on the ground that subjective intent is not a valid criterion for constitutional adjudication.