''Terry v. Adams'', 345 U.S. 461 (1953), was a

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

decision that held white-only pre-primary elections to be unconstitutional. It was the last in a series of court cases addressing the system of

white primaries White primaries were primary elections held in the Southern United States in which only white voters were permitted to participate. Statewide white primaries were established by the state Democratic Party units or by state legislatures in South ...

designed to disenfranchise African-American voters in the southern United States. In the first of these cases, '' Nixon v. Herndon'' (1927),

Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

, a black physician, sued for damages under federal civil rights laws after being denied a ballot in a Democratic party primary election on the basis of race. The Court found in his favor on the basis of the Fourteenth Amendment, which guarantees equal protection under the law, while not discussing his Fifteenth Amendment claim. After Texas amended its statute to authorize the political party's state executive committee to set voting qualifications, Nixon sued again; in '' Nixon v. Condon'' (1932), the Court again found in his favor on the basis of the Fourteenth Amendment. Following this decision, the Democratic Party's state convention instituted a rule that only whites could vote in its primary elections; the Court unanimously upheld this rule as constitutional in '' Grovey v. Townsend'' (1935), distinguishing the discrimination by a private organization from that of the state in the previous primary cases. The Court reversed course, however, with ''

Smith v. Allwright ''Smith v. Allwright'', 321 U.S. 649 (1944), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court with regard to voting rights and, by extension, racial desegregation. It overturned the Texas state law that authorized parties to set thei ...

'' (1944), another of the

Texas primary cases White primaries were primary elections held in the Southern United States in which only white voters were permitted to participate. Statewide white primaries were established by the state Democratic Party units or by state legislatures in South C ...

. In '' United States v. Classic'' (1941), the Court had ruled that primary elections were an essential part of the electoral process, opening ''Grovey'' to review. Under this reasoning, the Court found that denying non-white voters a ballot in primary elections was a violation of the Fifteenth Amendment, overturning ''Grovey''. ''Terry v. Adams'' formed the last of these cases. The petitioners, qualified black voters in Fort Bend County including John Terry, Charlie Roberts, Willie Melton, and

Arizona Fleming Arizona Fleming (March 23, 1884 – January 18, 1976) was an African-American small business owner from Richmond, Texas, who became part of the Civil Rights Movement by joining a lawsuit against an all-white political club that prevented black ...

, sued an organization known as the Jaybird Democratic Association, which since 1889 had organized white-only pre-elections for county offices; the winners of these pre-elections invariably won the subsequent official elections. The Court found for the plaintiffs but reached no majority opinion. Justices Hugo Black,

William O. Douglas William Orville Douglas (October 16, 1898January 19, 1980) was an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, who was known for his strong progressive and civil libertarian views, and is often ci ...

, and Harold H. Burton found that an election that effectively excluded black voters violated the Fifteenth Amendment, while Tom C. Clark,

Stanley F. Reed Stanley Forman Reed (December 31, 1884 – April 2, 1980) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1938 to 1957. He also ser ...

, and Robert H. Jackson found in a concurring opinion that the Jaybirds effectively formed an auxiliary of the Democratic Party, bringing the case within the scope of ''Smith v. Allwright''. Justice

Sherman Minton Sherman "Shay" Minton (October 20, 1890 – April 9, 1965) was an American politician and jurist who served as a U.S. senator from Indiana and later became an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States; he was a member of the ...

dissented.

References

External links

* {{Texas Democratic Party 1935 in United States case law African-American history of Texas History of voting rights in the United States Texas elections Texas Democratic Party United States Fifteenth Amendment case law United States Supreme Court cases United States Supreme Court cases of the Hughes Court Democratic Party (United States) litigation Civil rights movement case law United States racial discrimination case law