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 November 23, 2025.

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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. ‘ 

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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 

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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

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Ask U.S. Supreme Court to End Exclusion of Poor from Juries

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