U.S. Supreme Court

Pierre v. Louisiana, 306 U.S. 354 (1939)

Pierre v. Louisiana

No. 142

Argued February 3, 6, 1939

Decided February 27, 1939

306 U.S. 354

Syllabus

1. When the jury commissioners of a state court intentionally and systematically exclude negroes from among the persons summoned and listed for jury service, an indictment for murder, returned against a negro by a grand jury drawn or selected from such lists, is void under the equal protection clause of the fourteenth Amendment. P. 306 U. S. 357.

2. In determining whether, as matter of fact, such discrimination existed in this case, the findings and conclusions of the State Supreme Court, though entitled to great respect, are not binding on this Court. P. 306 U. S. 358.

189 La. 764, 180 So. 630, reversed.