CONSTITUTIONAL LAW - DUE PROCESS AND EQUAL PROTECTION - RIGHT OF COUNSEL

Authors

Abstract

The Scottsboro cases decided by the Supreme Court at the present term raise several interesting constitutional questions. The judgments were assailed on the ground that they were violative of the due process and equal protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment in three respects: (1) that the negroes were tried by juries from which members of their race were systematically excluded; (2) that they were not accorded a fair, impartial and deliberate trial; (3) that due process was denied because the right of counsel, with the usual incidents of consultation and adequate preparation for trial, was lacking. While the Supreme Court placed its decision upon the third ground, it is essential to a complete understanding of the constitutional problems to consider the state of the authorities on the others, especially on the second.

Recommended Citation

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW - DUE PROCESS AND EQUAL PROTECTION - RIGHT OF COUNSEL, 31 Mich. L. Rev. 245 (1932).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol31/iss2/8