In a five-to-four decision, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Bolton's reasoning and cleared the path for the legislature to elect Lester Maddox. Justice Hugo Black, a former Democratic U.S. senator from Alabama, took the strict constructionist line by emphasizing that the Constitution does not dictate how a state must elect its governor. "Our business is not to write laws to fit the day. Our task is to interpret the Constitution," Black explained. The two liberal dissenters, Abe Fortas and William O. Douglas, supported Callaway's position. Fortas contended that the 1824 provision for the legislature choosing the governor "belittled the equal protection clause" applied by Gray v. Sanders. "If the voting right is to mean anything, it certainly must be protected against the possibility that victory will go to the loser," said Fortas.