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Alexander v. Louisiana, 405 U.S. 625 (1972)
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General SummaryThis case is from a collection containing the full text of over 16,000 Supreme Court cases from 1793 to the present. The body of Supreme Court decisions are, effectively, the final interpretation of the Constitution. Only an amendment to the Constitution can permanently overturn an interpretation and this has happened only four times in American history.
Alexander v. Louisiana, 405 U.S. 625 (1972)
Alexander v. Louisiana No. 70-5026 Argued December 6-7, 1971 Decided April 3, 1972 405 U.S. 625
CERTIORARI TO THE SUPREME COURT OF LOUISIANA
Syllabus
Petitioner, a Negro, attacks his rape conviction in Lafayette Parish, which was affirmed by the Louisiana Supreme Court, contending that the grand jury selection procedures followed in his case were invidiously discriminatory against Negroes and, because of a statutory exemption provision, against women. The jury commissioners (all white) sent out questionnaires (including a space for racial designation) to those on a list compiled from nonracial sources. Of the 7,000-odd returns, 1,015 (14%) were from Negroes, though Negroes constituted 21% of the parish population presumptively eligible for grand jury service. By means of two culling-out procedures, when racial identifications that the commissioners had attached to the forms were plainly visible, the pool was reduced to 400, of whom 27 (7%) were Negro, from which group the 20-man grand jury venires were drawn. Petitioner’s venire included one Negro (5%), and the grand jury that indicted him had none. There was no evidence of conscious racial selection, and one commissioner testified that race was no consideration.
Held:
1. Petitioner made out a prima facie case of invidious racial discrimination in the selection of the grand jury that indicted him -- not only on a statistical basis but by a showing that the selection procedures were not racially neutral -- and the State, which did not adequately explain the disproportionately low number of Negroes throughout the selection process, did not meet the burden of rebutting the presumption of unconstitutionality in the procedures used. Cf. Avery v. Georgia, 345 U.S. 559; Whitus v. Georgia, 385 U.S. 545. Pp. 628-632.
2. Petitioner’s contentions regarding discrimination against women in the selection of grand jurors are not reached. Pp. 633-634.
255 La. 941, 233 So.2d 891, reversed.
WHITE, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which BURGER, C.J., and BRENNAN, STEWART, MARSHALL, and BLACKMUN, JJ, joined, and in Part I of which DOUGLAS, J., joined. DOUGLAS, J., filed a concurring opinion, post, p. 634. POWELL and REHNQUIST, JJ., took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.
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Chicago: U.S. Supreme Court, "Syllabus," Alexander v. Louisiana, 405 U.S. 625 (1972) in 405 U.S. 625 405 U.S. 626. Original Sources, accessed November 24, 2024, http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=H586QWAFTWRYW2B.
MLA: U.S. Supreme Court. "Syllabus." Alexander v. Louisiana, 405 U.S. 625 (1972), in 405 U.S. 625, page 405 U.S. 626. Original Sources. 24 Nov. 2024. http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=H586QWAFTWRYW2B.
Harvard: U.S. Supreme Court, 'Syllabus' in Alexander v. Louisiana, 405 U.S. 625 (1972). cited in 1972, 405 U.S. 625, pp.405 U.S. 626. Original Sources, retrieved 24 November 2024, from http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=H586QWAFTWRYW2B.
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