''Hale v. Kentucky'', 303 U.S. 613 (1938), 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 ...
case relating to
racial discrimination
Racial discrimination is any discrimination against any individual on the basis of their skin color, race or ethnic origin.Individuals can discriminate by refusing to do business with, socialize with, or share resources with people of a certain g ...
in the selection of
juries
A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence and render an impartial verdict (a finding of fact on a question) officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment.
Juries developed in England dur ...
for
criminal trial
Criminal procedure is the adjudication process of the criminal law. While criminal procedure differs dramatically by jurisdiction, the process generally begins with a formal criminal charge with the person on trial either being free on bail ...
s.
[.] The case overturned the conviction of an African American man accused of murder because the lower court of Kentucky had systematically excluded African Americans from serving on the jury in the case.
NAACP counsel, including
Charles H. Houston,
Leon A. Ransom and
Thurgood Marshall
Thurgood Marshall (July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993) was an American civil rights lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1967 until 1991. He was the Supreme Court's first African-A ...
, represented Hale.
Background
Joe Hale, an African American, had been convicted in
McCracken County, Kentucky
McCracken County is a county located in the far western portion of U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 67,875. The county seat and only municipality is Paducah. McCracken County was the 78th county formed in the st ...
. No African Americans were selected as jury members within the previous 50 years although nearly 7,000 were eligible for jury service.
Opinion of the Court
The court unanimously ruled that the plaintiff's civil rights had been violated.
Impact
''Hale v. Kentucky'' was one in a series of cases where the Supreme Court overturned convictions of blacks for reason of discrimination in jury selections in the lower courts.
See also
*
List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 303
This is a list of cases reported in volume 303 of ''United States Reports'', decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1938.
Justices of the Supreme Court at the time of volume 303 U.S.
The Supreme Court is established by A ...
*''
Norris v. Alabama'' (1935)
*''
Hollins v. Oklahoma'' (1935)
*
NAACP in Kentucky
References
Further reading
*
* See a picture of the NAACP Legal Team 1933 including Ransom, professor at the Howard Law School, at "A Century of Racial Segregation, 1849-1950" in the Library of Congress exhibition, ''"With an Even Hand": Brown v. Board at Fifty.'' Accessed December 29, 2010
www.loc.gov/exhibits/brown/brown-segregation.html
External links
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United States Supreme Court cases
United States Supreme Court cases of the Hughes Court
United States equal protection and criminal procedure case law
1938 in United States case law
Civil rights movement case law
United States racial discrimination case law
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