Guinn v. United States
E934442
Guinn v. United States was a 1915 U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down Oklahoma’s “grandfather clause,” marking an important early victory against racially discriminatory voting laws targeting Black citizens.
All labels observed (1)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Guinn v. United States canonical | 1 |
Statements (45)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
United States Supreme Court case
ⓘ
civil rights case ⓘ voting rights case ⓘ |
| affectedGroup |
African American citizens
ⓘ
Black voters in Oklahoma ⓘ |
| challengedLaw | Oklahoma grandfather clause for voter registration ⓘ |
| challengedPractice | exemption of voters whose ancestors could vote before 1866 from literacy tests ⓘ |
| charge | conspiracy to deprive Black citizens of the right to vote ⓘ |
| citation | 238 U.S. 347 ⓘ |
| constitutionalProvisionInterpreted | Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| court | Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ |
| decisionDate | 1915-06-21 ⓘ |
| era |
Jim Crow era
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
post-Reconstruction era ⓘ |
| geographicScope | State of Oklahoma NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| held |
Oklahoma’s grandfather clause violated the Fifteenth Amendment
ⓘ
grandfather clauses that exempt white voters from literacy tests are unconstitutional ⓘ |
| historicalSignificance |
first major Supreme Court decision invalidating a Jim Crow voting restriction
ⓘ
important early victory for the NAACP and civil rights advocates ⓘ |
| impact |
early federal protection of Black voting rights after Reconstruction
ⓘ
invalidated Oklahoma’s grandfather clause ⓘ limited use of grandfather clauses in other states ⓘ |
| jurisdiction |
United States of America
ⓘ
surface form:
United States
|
| legalIssue |
constitutionality of grandfather clauses
ⓘ
racial discrimination in voting ⓘ voting rights ⓘ |
| majorityOpinionBy | Chief Justice Edward Douglass White NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| party |
Frank Guinn
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
J. J. Beal NERFINISHED ⓘ United States NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| proceduralPosture | criminal convictions of election officials reviewed on writ of error ⓘ |
| reasoning |
facially race-neutral voting qualifications can be unconstitutional if designed to disenfranchise a racial group
ⓘ
grandfather clause was a device to evade the Fifteenth Amendment ⓘ |
| relatedCase | Myers v. Anderson NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| relatedTopic |
Black disenfranchisement in the United States
ⓘ
Jim Crow laws NERFINISHED ⓘ grandfather clause ⓘ literacy tests for voting ⓘ |
| stateInvolved | Oklahoma NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| subjectMatter |
civil rights law
ⓘ
constitutional law ⓘ election law ⓘ |
| subsequentDevelopment | states adopted new devices such as poll taxes and complex registration schemes after the decision ⓘ |
| typeOfDiscriminationAddressed | racial discrimination ⓘ |
| unanimity | largely unanimous decision ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.