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that is necessary is that they achieve "substantial equality of population among the various districts." Id. at 579. "Substantial equality of population" has come to mean that a legislative plan will not be thrown out for inequality of population if its overall range is less than ten percent. The ten - percent standard was first articulated in a dissenting opinion written by Justice Brennan in the cases of Gaffney v. Cummings, 412 U.S. 735, and White v. Regester, 412 U.S. 755, in 1973. In later cases, the Court majority has endorsed and followed the rule Justice Brennan's dissent accused them of establishing. See, e.g., Chapman v. Meier, 420 U.S. 1 (1975); Connor v. Finch, 431 U.S. 407 (1977); Brown v. Thomson, 462 U.S. 835, 842 -43 (1983); Voinovich v. Quilter, 507 U.S. 146 (1993). 2. Unless Necessary to Achieve Some "Rational State Policy" The Supreme Court in Reynolds v. Sims had anticipated that some deviations from population equality in legislative plans might be justified if they were "based on legitimate considerations incident to the effectuation of a rational state policy ...." 377 U.S. 533, 579 (1964). So far, the only "rational state policy" that has served to justify an overall range of more than ten percent in a legislative plan has been respecting the boundaries of political subdivisions. And that has happened in only three cases: Mahan v. Howell, 410 U.S. 315 (1973); Brown v. Thomson, 462 U.S. 835 (1983); and Voinovich v. Quilter, 507 U.S. 146 (1993). In Mahan v. Howell, the Supreme Court upheld a legislative redistricting plan enacted by the Virginia General Assembly that had an overall range among House districts of about 16 percent. The Court took note of the General Assembly's constitutional authority to enact legislation dealing with particular political subdivisions, and found that this legislative function was a significant and a substantial aspect of the Assembly's powers and practices, and thus justified an attempt to preserve political subdivision boundaries in drawing House districts. Brown v. Thomson, 462 U.S. 835 (1983), upholding a legislative plan with an overall range of 89 percent, was decided by the Supreme Court on the same day that it decided Karcher v. Daggett, 462 U.S. 725 (1983), where it threw out a congressional plan with an overall range of less than one percent. Reconciling these two cases is not easy. Nevertheless, I shall try. First, as I have noted, the constitutional standard for legislative plans is different from the standard for congressional plans. Second, it is important to understand that in Brown v. Thomson the Court was faced with a reapportionment plan rather than with a redistricting plan. The members of the Wyoming House of Representatives were being reapportioned among Wyoming's counties, rather than having new districts created for them. Because the boundaries of the districts were not being changed, the opportunities for partisan mischief were far reduced. Third, Wyoming put forward a "rational state policy" to justify an overall range of more than ten percent, and the Court endorsed it. Writing for the Court, Justice Powell concluded that Wyoming's constitutional policy— followed since statehood —of using counties as representative districts and insuring that each county had at least one representative, was supported by substantial and legitimate state concerns, and had been applied in a manner free from any taint of arbitrariness or discrimination. He also found that the population deviations were no greater than necessary to preserve counties as representative districts, and that there was no evidence of a built -in bias tending to favor particular interests or geographical areas. 462 U.S. at 843 -46.