The Connor et al. v. Williams, Governor of Mississippi, et al., 1971 case was a significant Supreme Court ruling that dealt with the issue of racial gerrymandering in Mississippi's congressional districts. The plaintiffs argued that the state had deliberately drawn its district lines to dilute African American voting power and thus violate their rights under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The court ruled in favor of Connor and his co-plaintiffs, finding that there was indeed evidence to suggest racially motivated gerrymandering by state officials. This decision reaffirmed previous rulings on similar cases - namely Baker v Carr (1962) and Reynolds v Sims (1964), which established "one person one vote" principle - asserting once again that redistricting plans must not intentionally discriminate against minority voters.

In the dissenting opinion for Connor et al. v. Williams, Governor of Mississippi et al., 1971, Justice William O. Douglas argued that the majority's decision to uphold Mississippi's redistricting plan was flawed because it allowed racial gerrymandering and violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. He contended that by accepting a plan with such significant population variances among districts, they were effectively endorsing unequal representation and undermining democratic principles. Furthermore, he criticized his colleagues for failing to scrutinize whether race had been used as a factor in drawing district lines - an issue he believed warranted careful examination given Mississippi’s history of racial discrimination in voting practices.