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Hernandez v. Texas

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Wikipedia

Hernandez v. Texas, 347 U.S. 475 (1954), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case that decided that Mexican Americans and all other racial groups in the United States had equal protection under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Background

Pete Hernandez, a Mexican agricultural worker, was convicted for the murder of Joe Espinoza. Hernandez believed that the jury could not be impartial unless members of other races were allowed on the jury-selecting committees, seeing that a Mexican American had not been on a jury for more than 25 years in his particular county in the U.S. state of Texas. Hernandez and his lawyers took the case to the Supreme Court. The legal team included Gustavo C. Garcia, Carlos Cadena, James deAnda, Chris Alderete, and John J. Herrera.

Ruling

Chief Justice Earl Warren and the rest of the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of Hernandez. The Court held that the Fourteenth Amendment protects those beyond the racial classes of white or Negro, and extends to other racial groups, such as Mexican American in this case.

Social implications

The ruling was yet another step forward in the American Civil Rights Movement and another hit to racial segregation in the USA. This time, racial minorities other than African Americans benefited from such a ruling. The ultimate impact of this ruling, however, was that now all racial groups of the United States were protected under the 14th Amendment.

The oral arguments of this case have been lost. However, the United States Supreme Court docket sheet and letter from Justice Clark to Chief Justice regarding joining opinion are available online.