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Powell v. Alabama, 287 U.S. 45; 53 S. Ct. 55; 77 L. Ed. 158 (1932) Facts—Petitioners, nine African American youths, were indicted for the rape of two white girls. A jury tried them six days after the day they were…

Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79; 106 S. Ct. 1712; 90 L. Ed. 2d 69 (1986) Facts—A Circuit Court in Jefferson County, Kentucky, refused to discharge a jury where the prosecutor had used peremptory challenges to strike African American jurors…

Duren v. Missouri, 439 U.S. 357; 99 S. Ct. 664; 58 L. Ed. 2d 579 (1979) Facts—A Circuit Court of Jackson County, Missouri, indicted Duren for first-degree murder and first-degree robbery. He contended that a provision of the Missouri law…

Burch v. Louisiana, 441 U.S. 130; 99 S. Ct. 1623; 60 L. Ed. 2d 96 (1979) Facts—Burch and a corporation were both found guilty under the Louisiana criminal code of a nonpetty criminal offense (obscenity) and convicted by a five-person…

Duncan v. Louisiana, 391 U.S. 145; 88 S. Ct. 1444; 20 L. Ed. 491 (1968) Facts—Duncan, a black youth, was convicted of simple battery, a misdemeanor punishable by two years’ imprisonment and a $300 fine. He had slapped a white…

Norris v. Alabama, 294 U.S. 587; 55 S. Ct. 579; 79 L. Ed. 1074 (1935) Facts—Norris was one of nine African American youths, known as “the Scottsboro boys,” who were indicted in 1931 in Jackson County, Alabama, for the crime…

Hurtado v. California, 110 U.S. 516; 4 S. Ct. 111; 28 L. Ed. 232 (1884) Facts—The plaintiff was charged by the district attorney with murder, by means of an information, in a California county court. The plaintiff was tried, the…