The Forrest City times., 1901-04-05

-t.,,- ..r \ gree. .. .,.,,..


 In rendering decision in the case or Ed Eastling vs. The State, the su- preme court discussed the negro oues- tion. as applied to the jury system. Eastling was indicted. tried and con- victed in Perry county of murder in the hrst degree. The principal con- tention in this case. for a reversal. was because it was alleged the jury commissioners appointed to select the grand jury. which indicted Eastling, a negro, selected no negroes to serve on the said jury, but excluded all col ored people because of their race and | color; and that fully one-fourth of the population of the legal electors of Perry county were negroes, and that they had been excluded from serving upon any jury for the past eighteen years, which. it was alleged, is dis crimination against the defendant, ! and that such discrimination is a de- nial to him of the equal protection of the laws of the United States as set | out in the Fourteenth amendment to the constitution.
 In his opinion. Chief Justice Bum said. in part:
 "It is sufficient to say, in the out | set of the discussion of this particu- ular subject. that a mere absence of | negroes from the grand jury cannot. | Of itself, be considered as a sufficient showing to sustain the motion to quash on this ground. It must appear that the exclusion of the negroes from | the grand jury was brought about for the purpose solely of denying the equal protection of the laws to the defend ant or his race. on account of race or color.
 Primarily, the effect of the first section of the Fourteenth amendment is to prohibit the states from making laws which discriminate against the | negro race but recently emancipated | when the amendment was adopted, and it has been so construed in many decisions of the federal supreme court. The provisions of this amendement have reference to state action ex- clusively and not to any action of pri- vate individuals. If the subordinate officers (jury commissioners). whose duty it is to select jurors. fail to dis | charge their duties in the true spirit of the law, if they exclude all colored men solely because they are colored. or if the sheriff to whom the venue is given, composed of both white and colored citizens. neglect to summon the colored jurors for the same req son, it can with no propriety be said that the defendants right is denied by the state and cannot be enforced in the judicial tribunals. The court will correct the wrong, will quash the indictment of the panel, or if not, the error will be corrected in the superior court.
 "The case is this: On a motion to quash an indictment, it is purely a question of fact, to be proven, whether the equal rights of the de- fendant have been observed in the selection of jurymen, and whether or not he has been discriminated against on account of solely of his race or color If there are other lawful req sons for the exclusion. then the mo- tion to Quash will not be necessarily sustained. The circuit court which tried him were composed wholly of white men, and that no negro had been a juror in Perry county in which a colored man was interested for eighteen years, falls short of showing that any civil right was denied or that there had been any discrimination against the defendant because of his color or race. The facts may actually have been as stated and yet the jury which indicted him. and the panel sumoned to try him, may have been i'm partially selected.
 "The testimony. on the motion to quash, was introduced. and it was shown by the jury commissioners that they did not discriminate in their se- lections. because of race or color. but chose the jurors for their efficiency and ability. The verdict of the jury was reversed, not on the ground that negroes were excluded from the jury, but on the ground that the evidence was not sufficient to convict of murder in the first degree"