Bokulich v. Jury Comm'n of Greene Cty.

Background

A group of civil‑rights workers were arrested on grand larceny charges in Greene County and joined a lawsuit with others challenging how juries were chosen. They said Black residents had been systematically left off both grand and petit jury rolls, that the county’s all‑white jury commission reflected unconstitutional discrimination, and that the Governor only picked white commissioners. The plaintiffs asked a three‑judge court to order changes and to stop the Greene County grand jury from considering the criminal charges against these workers.

Reasoning

The District Court found that Black residents had been purposely excluded from jury lists and that this violated equal protection and due process. It ordered local officials to compile nondiscriminatory jury lists and barred continued exclusion, but it refused to stop the grand jury from considering the criminal charges. The Supreme Court affirmed that refusal, saying the lower court did not abuse its discretion. The High Court accepted the District Court’s assumption that the defects could be promptly fixed and noted that if the workers were indicted they could raise jury‑composition objections as a defense during prosecution.

Real world impact

Practically, Greene County must take prompt steps to create fair jury lists, but criminal proceedings may go forward while those fixes happen. The charged workers are not barred from being presented to a grand jury now, but they retain the right to challenge jury composition later in their criminal cases. The Court did not decide whether a separate federal statute would bar an injunction, and other related appeals about the statutes and commission composition are proceeding separately.