Smith v. Allwright
Smith v. Allwright (1944), was a landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court.[1] The decision made it unconstitutional to keep African Americans from voting in a Democratic Party primary in Texas.[2] By extension it covered white primaries in all states. It overturned Grovey v. Townsend (1935) which had allowed the Democratic party to hold all-white primaries that excluded black voters.
| Smith v. Allwright | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Reargued January 12, 1944 Decided April 3, 1944 | |
| Full case name | Smith v. Allwright, Election Judge, et al. |
| Citations | 321 U.S. 649 (more) |
| Holding | |
| Primary elections must be open to voters of all races. | |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Reed, joined by Stone, Black, Douglas, Murphy, Jackson, Rutledge |
| Concurrence | Frankfurter (in the judgment of the court only) |
| Dissent | Roberts |
The all-white primary
The Reconstruction Amendments to the United States Constitution gave African Americans freedom from slavery, citizenship and the right to vote.[3] But many former slave states came up with ways to keep blacks from voting. These included poll taxes, literacy tests and complex voter registration laws.[4] While these worked in most southern states, it did not work in Texas.[4] The party needed the Hispanic vote but wanted to exclude blacks. They needed also to split the black and hispanic vote. Texas, like most southern states, was a one-party state. The Democratic party controlled politics. The state and local primary elections decided which candidate would ultimately win office in the general election.[2] Democrats in Texas used the "white primary" to serve their purposes.[2] It prohibited non-whites from joining the Democratic party and taking part in primary elections.[2] It could be used also to exclude Mexican Americans in areas of the state where the party did not need them.[2] The Reconstruction Amendments applied to the state. But in Grovey v. Townsend the state of Texas was allowed to pass on its responsibility for protecting black voter rights to a private organization—the Democratic party.[5] This allowed Texas to use the all-white primary.
The case
In another decision, Grovey v. Townsend (1935), the Supreme Court decided that the Democratic Party was a private organization. Their state convention could decide who can be a member. Lonnie E. Smith, a Houston dentist, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) decided to fight this decision.[4]
In Smith v. Allwright (1944), the court overturned the Grovey ruling.[2] A majority of the justices decided that the Democratic party was more than a private organization. It was a part of the election process in Texas. For this reason the court said that it was unconstitutional to stop African Americans from voting in the Democratic primary.[2]
Smith V. Allwright Media
Houston dentist Lonnie E. Smith casts his ballot in the 1944 Texas Democratic primary election (July 22, 1944)
References
- ↑ "Landmark: Smith v. Allwright". NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 "Smith vs. Allwright: white primaries". The University of Texas at Austin. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
- ↑ "Landmark Legislation: Thirteenth, Fourteenth, & Fifteenth Amendments". The United States Senate. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Robert V. Haynes, 'The Battle for the Black Ballot: Smith v. Allwright and the Defeat of the Texas All-White Primary', The Journal of Southern History (2005) HighBeam Research. (April 23, 2015). http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-928257311.html Archived 2016-04-21 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Mark V. Tushnet, Making Civil Rights Law: Thurgood Marshall and the Supreme Court, 1936-1961 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1994), p. 102, https://www.questia.com/read/78818214/making-civil-rights-law-thurgood-marshall-and-the.