Ask U.S. Supreme Court to End Exclusion of Poor from Juries
Press Release
June 16, 1965

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Press Releases, Volume 2. Ask U.S. Supreme Court to End Exclusion of Poor from Juries, 1965. 3fb493fe-b592-ee11-be37-00224827e97b. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/0bbf2166-a636-40c8-a26c-86df660c602e/ask-us-supreme-court-to-end-exclusion-of-poor-from-juries. Accessed June 13, 2025.
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r e a 10 Columbus Circle New York, N.Y. 10019 ) JUdson 6-8397 } NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund PRESS RELEASE PDE: Allan Knight Chalmers FOR RELEASE : ick Ccceubers Wednesday . —— = June 16, 196 Pa ASK U.S. SUPREME COURT TO END ri EXCLUSION OF POOR FROM JURTES . WASHINGTON~--The U.S. Supreme Court was asked today to end exclusion - of the poor from the nation's jury rolls by attorneys of the NAACP egal Defense Fund. j : "Exclusion of poor persons as a Class, because of their in- bility to serve without pay on state criminal juries, is a ‘violation of the 14th Amendment," Fund attorneys Wetted! : The Supreme Court was asked to review this issue in connection ywith the case of Bruce Barksdale, 27 year-old Negro indicted for tthe crime of aggravated rape of a white woman by a New Orleans grand jury in 1962. % 4 The Louisiana Supreme Court maintained that < larae portion of the New Orleans’ poor are Negro; and, since surye “service, is not Se - compensated, Negro jurors are few. ‘ Ra re Fund attorneys countered saying that the ool mie be Fs = xepresented on juries if juries are to represent a cross. section of Bt the community. ie + "A jury system," they argued, "which excludes the poor denies A P H 6 equal protection because a distinct class of jurymen is denied representation for no other reason than poverty." } New Orleans is the only city in the nation with a population between one half and one million citizens (there are 16 other cities \ that size) which does not pay citizens for serving on criminal " juries. The Fund's petition also stated that a Negro defendant might well conclude “that a community that purposely discriminates against the poor, by excluding them from jury service, discriminates aqeinet him, " Fund attorneys are seeking a new trial, with a representative jury for Mr. Barksdale. Peres =30= Jesse DeVore, Jr., Director of Public Information—Night Number 212 Riverside 9-8487 oa