Whitus v. Georgia

SCOTUSCase
Litigants=Whitus v. Georgia
ArgueDate=December 7
ArgueYear=1966
DecideDate=January 23
DecideYear=1967
FullName=Whitus, et al. v. Georgia
Citation=385 U.S. 545
USVol=385
USPage=545
Citation=87 S. Ct. 643; 17 L. Ed. 2d 599; 1967 U.S. LEXIS 2452
Prior=Cert. to the Supreme Court of Georgia
Subsequent=
Holding=Convictions cannot stand if based on indictments or verdicts of juries on which racial discrimination has occurred.
SCOTUS=1965-1967
Majority=Clark
JoinMajority="unanimous"

"Whitus v. Georgia", 385 U.S. 545 (1967), found in favor of the plaintiff (Whitus), who had been convicted for murder, and as such reversed their convictions. This was due to the Georgia jury selection policies; in which it was alleged racial discrimination had occurred.

The plaintiffs argued that, as their county had a 45% population of African-Americans, it was discrimination and unfair to have been presented with all-white or nearly all-white juries each time. Thus, the Supreme Court - as well as overturning the convictions - ruled that Georgia renew it's jury selection policies. Previous law meant tax returns would be sorted, and "Negroes" would have a '(c)' placed next to their name. In the conviction of Whitus, the jury had been selected via old lists.

ee also

*List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 385

External links

* [http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=385&invol=545 Whitus v. Georgia, 385 U.S. 545 (1967), FindLaw]