Hernandez v. Texas was an appeal of a Texas Supreme Court decision that upheld the exclusion of Mexican-American jurors from a trial in which the defendant was Mexican-American.
The US Supreme Court determined the Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection Clause applied to more than two races, and that Mexican-Americans (and others) could not be excluded on the basis of race. This was a reasonable extension of prior interpretation of the Amendment.
In the opinion of the Court, Chief Justice Earl Warren cited a nearly identical case, Strauder v. West Virginia, (1879), as precedent. In Strauder, the Court declared otherwise qualified African-Americans couldn't be excluded from jury duty. Strauder was reaffirmed by numerous other cases, such as Gibson v. Mississippi, (1896), Carter v. Texas,(1900), Norris v. Alabama, (1935), etc. The Warren Court adhered to the doctrine of stare decisis, with the only exception being the particular group(s) to which the decision applied.
Case Citation:
Hernandez v. Texas, 347 US 475 (1954)
