Brown v. Allen 344 U.S. 443 (1953)

• Author: Dennis J. Mahoney
• Pages: 253

Page 253

In Brown v. Allen the Supreme Court rejected the claim that North Carolina practiced unconstitutional JURY DISCRIMINATION. Speaking through Justice STANLEY F. REED, the Court held that the state did not deny EQUAL PROTECTION to blacks by randomly selecting jury panels from lists of property taxpayers, even though there was still a significantly smaller proportion of black jurors than black citizens. The Court declined to consider whether selecting for jury duty those with the most property constituted WEALTH DISCRIMINATION. Justices HUGO L. BLACK, FELIX FRANKFURTER, and WILLIAM O. DOUGLAS, dissenting, argued that the tax-list selection technique was not a "complete neutralization of RACIAL DISCRIMINATION."

DENNIS J. MAHONEY

(1986)