In the case of Harris County Commissioners Court et al. v. Moore et al., 1974, the U.S Supreme Court ruled on a dispute regarding districting in Harris County, Texas. The plaintiffs argued that the county's precinct-based system for electing commissioners violated their Fourteenth Amendment rights by diluting their votes and thus denying them equal protection under law due to population variances among districts. However, the court held that not all apportionment schemes must adhere strictly to a "one person, one vote" standard; instead it depends on whether there is an inherent discrimination present in an apportionment scheme which would render it constitutionally invalid under Equal Protection Clause of Fourteenth Amendment. In this case, they found no such discrimination as each commissioner represented roughly equal populations and had only one vote at meetings where decisions were made affecting entire county rather than individual precincts alone.

In the dissenting opinion for Harris County Commissioners Court et al. v. Moore et al., Justice Powell, joined by Chief Justice Burger and Justices Stewart and Rehnquist, argued that the majority's decision to allow federal courts to intervene in local government affairs was a significant overreach of judicial power. They contended that it is not within the purview of federal courts to dictate how local governments should be structured or operate unless there is clear evidence of constitutional violation or discrimination - which they believed was not present in this case. The dissenters also expressed concern about potential negative consequences resulting from such intervention, including undermining state sovereignty and creating confusion among lower courts regarding their role in overseeing local governmental matters.