Justice Brennan stood as a voice for those without a voice of their own on the highest tribunal of justice in this land. He believed in interpreting the Constitution as a living charter of human rights. dignity. and selfdetermination. and thus he believed that it was precisely the most vulnerable. forgotten and castoffs within our society for which its protections were designed. He reshaped the contours of American constitutional law by time and time again forging new consensus on the court in defense of minorities. immigrants. death row inmates. political protesters and the poor. His decision in Baker versus Carr as we have heard already established Federal constitutional jurisdictions over legislative apportionment. helping to establish the principle of "one person. one vote" and countermanding the process that had traditionally led to discriminatory racial gerrymandering in the drawing of electoral districts. Today we have 38 Members of the House of Representatives as a result of Justice Brennan in those early days.
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