The courts take a stand on reapportionment, 57 years ago

The U.S. Supreme Court stepped in to settle a dispute over political districts in Wisconsin in June of 1962. The La Crosse Tribune ran an editorial asking if the state should find a better way to handle this chore every 10 years. The odds were that a solution would not be reached before the September primary that year. Democratic Gov. Gaylord Nelson had vetoed the map drawn up by Republicans, saying the map was not fair.

Nelson was giving up the governor’s office to run for U.S. Senate against incumbent Republican Alexander Wiley. There was talk of having the two candidates debate, and Wiley said he was willing to debate Nelson…but not on TV. This was just two years after the landmark Kennedy-Nixon television debates.

At awards season in the spring of 1962, the most popular song of the year was ‘Moon River,’ from the movie ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s.’ The Henry Mancini tune won an Oscar, and the Grammy for Record of the Year. Also at the Grammys, the best comedy album of the year was by Mike Nichols and Elaine May…beating other records by Jonathan Winters, Stan Freberg, and by Bill Dana playing fictional astronaut Jose Jimenez.