Facts of the Case

Provided by Oyez

A West Virginia law declared that only whites may serve on juries.


Questions

  1. Does the state law barring blacks from jury service violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment?

Conclusions

  1. Yes. Strong, writing for the majority, declared that to deny citizen participation in the administration of justice solely on racial grounds "is practically a brand upon them, affixed by law; an assertion of their inferiority, and a stimulant to that race prejudice which is an impediment to securing to individuals of the race that equal justice which the law aims to secure to all others."