Smith v. Allwright

E17203

United States Supreme Court case landmark voting rights case

Smith v. Allwright was a landmark 1944 U.S. Supreme Court case that struck down racially exclusive primary elections, significantly advancing African American voting rights.

Jump to: Surface forms Statements Referenced by

Observed surface forms (3)

Surface form	Occurrences
African American voter Lonnie E. Smith was denied the right to vote in a Democratic primary in Texas	1
Smith v. Allwright, 321 U.S. 649 (1944)	1
Smith v. Allwright, Secretary of State of Texas	1

Statements (46)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	United States Supreme Court case ⓘ landmark voting rights case ⓘ
areaOfLaw	civil rights law ⓘ constitutional law ⓘ election law ⓘ
background	Smith v. Allwright self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: African American voter Lonnie E. Smith was denied the right to vote in a Democratic primary in Texas Texas Democratic Party restricted primary voting to white voters only ⓘ
category	1944 in United States case law ⓘ United States Supreme Court cases of the Stone Court ⓘ United States Supreme Court cases on voting rights ⓘ
citation	321 U.S. 649 ⓘ
constitutionalProvision	Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution ⓘ Fourteenth Amendment ⓘ surface form: Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
country	United States of America ⓘ surface form: United States
court	Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ
decisionDate	1944-04-03 ⓘ
dissentBy	Justice Owen J. Roberts ⓘ surface form: Owen J. Roberts
effectOnLaw	required states to ensure that primary elections comply with the Constitution ⓘ
effectOnPolitics	altered the structure of one-party Democratic dominance in the South by opening primaries to Black voters ⓘ
fullCaseName	Smith v. Allwright self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: Smith v. Allwright, Secretary of State of Texas
historicalContext	decided during World War II ⓘ part of the early civil rights movement legal victories ⓘ
holding	political party primaries are an integral part of the electoral process and subject to constitutional constraints ⓘ racially exclusive primary elections violate the Fifteenth Amendment ⓘ
impact	invalidated white primary systems used to exclude Black voters ⓘ significantly expanded African American participation in primary elections in the South ⓘ strengthened federal protection of voting rights ⓘ
jurisdiction	Texas ⓘ
legalIssue	application of the Fifteenth Amendment to primary elections ⓘ constitutionality of racially exclusive primary elections ⓘ state action in party primary elections ⓘ
litigationSupport	NAACP ⓘ surface form: National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
majorityOpinionBy	Stanley Forman Reed ⓘ
overruledPrecedent	Grovey v. Townsend ⓘ
petitioner	Lonnie E. Smith ⓘ
precedentFor	expansion of the concept of state action in civil rights jurisprudence ⓘ later voting rights cases enforcing the Fifteenth Amendment ⓘ
precedentStatusOfGrovey v. Townsend	overruled ⓘ
recognizedAs	major milestone in dismantling Jim Crow electoral practices ⓘ
relatedTo	NAACP legal strategy against racial discrimination in voting ⓘ white primaries in the Jim Crow South ⓘ
respondent	S. E. Allwright ⓘ
topic	African American voting rights ⓘ white primary system ⓘ
voteSplit	8–1 ⓘ
yearDecided	1944 ⓘ

Referenced by (11)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Smith v. Allwright → background → Smith v. Allwright self-linksurface differs ⓘ

this entity surface form: African American voter Lonnie E. Smith was denied the right to vote in a Democratic primary in Texas

Smith v. Allwright → fullCaseName → Smith v. Allwright self-linksurface differs ⓘ

this entity surface form: Smith v. Allwright, Secretary of State of Texas

United States Supreme Court cases of the Stone Court → includesCase → Smith v. Allwright ⓘ

S. E. Allwright → legalCase → Smith v. Allwright ⓘ

NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund represented plaintiffs → notableCase → Smith v. Allwright ⓘ

subject surface form: NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund

NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund → notableWork → Smith v. Allwright ⓘ

Thurgood Marshall → notableWork → Smith v. Allwright ⓘ

Thoroughgood Marshall → notableWork → Smith v. Allwright ⓘ

subject surface form: Thurgood Marshall

Grovey v. Townsend → overruledBy → Smith v. Allwright ⓘ

Grovey v. Townsend → overruledByCitation → Smith v. Allwright ⓘ

this entity surface form: Smith v. Allwright, 321 U.S. 649 (1944)

Grovey v. Townsend → relatedCase → Smith v. Allwright ⓘ