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Jones v. Georgia
Citations: 19 L. Ed. 2d 25; 88 S. Ct. 4; 389 U.S. 24; 1967 U.S. LEXIS 503Docket: 174 M
Court: Supreme Court of the United States; October 16, 1967; Federal Supreme Court; Federal Appellate Court
The Supreme Court granted the petition for a writ of certiorari and the motion to proceed in forma pauperis in the case of Alexander David Jones v. Georgia. The petitioner challenged his murder conviction, asserting systematic racial exclusion of African Americans from grand and petit juries, claiming it violated equal protection rights as established in Whitus v. State of Georgia. The Georgia Supreme Court upheld the conviction, arguing that the jury commissioners were presumed to have acted lawfully without racial discrimination. The Supreme Court found this presumption insufficient, stating that the Georgia Supreme Court failed to adequately explain the significant disparity in the representation of African Americans on jury lists compared to their percentage in the population and tax digest. Citing precedents, the Court emphasized that the burden was on the state to justify this disparity, which was not met by the Georgia court's reasoning. Consequently, the Supreme Court reversed the Georgia Supreme Court's judgment and remanded the case for further proceedings consistent with its opinion. The document includes a comparative analysis of jury demographics between Whitus and Jones, highlighting stark differences in racial representation on juries, with Jones's case showing a significant underrepresentation of African Americans among jurors. No rebuttal evidence was presented by the State in either case. The ruling underscores the necessity for judicial processes to ensure fair representation in juries to uphold constitutional protections.