Hill v. Texas, 316 U.S. 400 (1942)

Hill v. Texas


No. 1119


Argued May 11, 1942
Decided June 1, 1942
316 U.S. 400

CERTIORARI TO THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TEXAS

Syllabus

1. Evidence held sufficient to make out a prima facie case of systematic discrimination against negroes in the selection of grand jurors -- violative of the Fourteenth Amendment. P. 404.

2. State grand jury commissioners who consciously omit to place any negro on the grand jury list, making no efforts to ascertain whether there are in the county negroes qualified under the state law to serve as jurors, fail to perform their constitutional duty, recognized by § 4 of the Civil Rights Act of March 1, 1875. P. 404.

3. Where the evidence shows without contradiction that a large number of negroes who are literate reside in the county from which grand jurors are drawn, there is no room to infer that there are not among them literate householders of good moral character, qualified and available for grand jury service under the state law. P. 404.

157 S.W.2d 369 reversed.

Certiorari, post, p. 655, to review a judgment sustaining a conviction for rape.