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70 Clev. St. L. Rev. Et Cetera 51 (2021-2022)
Returning the House of Representatives to the People: An Apportionment Amendment Proposal Advocating for the Cube Root Rule

handle is hein.journals/cvdstlw70 and id is 51 raw text is: CLEVELAND STATE LAW REVIEW ET CETERA VOLUME 70YPAGES 51-7 RETURNING THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TO THE PEOPLE: AN APPORTIONMENT AMENDMENT PROPOSAL ADVOCATING FOR THE CUBE ROOT RULE MICHAEL DIDOMENICO* ABSTRACT Since the approval of the Permanent Apportionment Act of 1929, the number of representatives in the United States House of Representatives has been capped at 435. While the People's House has seen no growth since 1929, the United States population has nearly tripled since that time to 332 million people in 2022. Without additional representatives to accommodate this larger population, Americans have diluted voting power, representatives are more distant from the constituents they supposedly represent, partisanship stonewalls any productive legislation from being passed, an imbalanced Electoral College clouds the will of the people in selecting their president, and a lack of stable congressional districts allows for more opportunities for political parties to gerrymander districts in their favor. This Note seeks to rectify these issues through a Cube Root Amendment to the Constitution. This Amendment would calculate the number of representatives in the House according to the cube root of the United States population. An additional provision adds districting language to force the courts to listen to constitutional claims about gerrymandering. This Note will demonstrate that the Amendment will result in more equitable representation, improve a currently flawed Electoral College scheme, and aid in fighting against gerrymandered districts. CONTENTS I. IN TRO D U CTIO N .................................................................................................. . 52 II. BACKGROUND........................................................................................................54 A. Constitutional Underpinnings ...........................................................................54 B . Apportionm ent In A ction .............................................................................. . 56 C. Apportionment Clashes In The 1920s ......................................................... 57 D. Where We Are After The Permanent Apportionment Act Of 1929 ..............58 III. A N A L Y SIS ....................................................................................................... . 59 A. The Proposed Amendment And Its Immediate Implications ........................59 * Michael DiDomenico is expected to receive his law degree from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in May 2022. Michael graduated from Westminster College in 2018 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology. He would like to thank his Scholarly Writing professor, Lauren Collins, for helping him formulate his topic and learn the skills of writing a law review article. He also wants to thank his parents, Bob and Lisa, brother, Robby, and sister, Zoe, for their continuous support. 51 VOLUME 70 MAY 11, 2022 PAGES 51-78

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