Johnson v. State

288 F. Supp. 655, 1968 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9439
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Alabama
DecidedJuly 8, 1968
DocketCr. No. 12067
StatusPublished

This text of 288 F. Supp. 655 (Johnson v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Johnson v. State, 288 F. Supp. 655, 1968 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9439 (M.D. Ala. 1968).

Opinion

ORDER

JOHNSON, Chief Judge.

Percy E. Johnson was indicted by a grand jury in and for Lowndes County, Alabama, for the offense of violating the Alabama law relating to the possession [656]*656of marijuana.1 While the prosecution was pending and before the case came on for trial in the state court, petitioner filed in this court his application for removal pursuant to Title 28, § 1443, United States Code.2 3 Petitioner, in his application for removal, contends that he cannot enforce in the Circuit Court of Lowndes County, Alabama, rights guaranteed under the federal Constitution and statutes providing for the equal rights of citizens. In support of this contention, petitioner alleges the exclusion of Negroes from the Lowndes County Circuit Court jury rolls solely by reason of race or color. He further alleges that his arrest, indictment and prosecution are being carried out for the sole purpose and effect of harassing him and summarily punishing him for, and deterring him from, the exercise of his constitutionally protected right of free speech, right to vote, and right to hold and enjoy property to the same extent enjoyed by white citizens. Petitioner seeks an injunction and a declaratory judgment.

The State of Alabama moved to remand the case, and by formal order this matter was set for oral hearing before this court to afford the petitioner an opportunity to present his evidence to sustain his contentions. The case was heard and the matter is now submitted upon the pleadings, the oral testimony of several witnesses, and the exhibits thereto.

Clearly § 1443, subsection (2) is not applicable to the injunctive feature of this case. The law is clear that removal to a federal forum from a state or city forum under the facts and circumstances as disclosed from the evidence in this case is not available. People of State of New York v. Galamison, 342 F.2d 255, 8 A.L.R.3d 263 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 380 U.S. 977, 85 S.Ct. 1342, 14 L.Ed.2d 272; Peacock v. City of Greenwood, 347 F.2d 679 (1965). These cases are clear to the effect that when subsection (2) of § 1443 speaks of “color of authority derived from any law providing for equal rights,” it refers to a situation where the beneficiary of that portion of the statute should be allowed to do something and not merely to a situation where he may have a valid defense in the prosecution for the commission of a criminal offense. Thus, this subsection applies to officers and those assisting them or otherwise acting in an official or quasi-official capacity. See also Johnson v. City of Montgomery, 245 F.Supp. 25 (M.D. Ala. Aug., 1965); Cochran v. City of Eufaula, Alabama, 251 F.Supp. 981 (M.D. Ala. 1966).

In order for the petitioner to sustain his allegation under § 1443, subsection (1), he must prove that his arrest and prosecution have been and are being carried out for the sole purpose and effect of promoting and bringing about racial discrimination. The precise issue which the court must focus on has been formulated as follows:

“[I]t is our view, that not every violation of the equal protection clause will justify removal, but only those violations involving discrimination based on race. * * * Appellants also allege deprivation of rights under the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and under the First Amendment as incorporated therein. We hold, however, that the due process clause is not a law providing for equal [657]*657rights within the contemplation of the removal statute. (Emphasis in original.)
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“The removal statute contemplates those cases that go beyond a mere claim of due process violation; they must focus on racial discrimination in the context of denial of equal protection of the laws.” (Emphasis added.)

Peacock v. City of Greenwood, supra, 347 F.2d at 682. See also City of Greenwood v. Peacock, 384 U.S. 808, 86 S.Ct. 1800, 16 L.Ed.2d 944 (1966).

The petitioner is not challenging the constitutionality of the Alabama marijuana statute, neither does he offer evidence to the effect that the prosecution is groundless or without probable cause. As stated, the petitioner seeks in the alternative preliminary and permanent injunctions restraining and enjoining the State of Alabama from further prosecuting him for the reason that Negroes are systematically and summarily excluded from the jury rolls and venires of Lowndes County. The evidence in this ease and the records of this court reflect that this court in White v. Crook, D.C., 251 F.Supp. 401 — a class action by male and female Negro residents of Lowndes County, Alabama, against the members of the Lowndes County Jury Commission —determined that there had been a systematic exclusion of Negroes from the jury rolls and jury box in Lowndes County, Alabama; upon this determination, a mandatory injunction was issued requiring the jury commissioners to empty the jury box and compile a roll and refill the box in strict accordance with the Alabama law and the controlling federal constitutional principles. The evidence in this case further reflects that the jury commissioners complied with the order and injunction of this court in the White v. Crook case.

Petitioner attempts to focus his case upon the exclusion of Negroes from the jury venire because of illiteracy and contends that this constitutes a denial to a Negro criminal defendant of rights guaranteed to him under the Code of Alabama, 1940, Title 30, § 21, and the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Petitioner’s evidence reflects that the Lowndes County Circuit Court — the court in which this prosecution is pending — as a matter of practice, disqualifies all prospective jurors who are illiterate. The evidence does not reflect that the practice of the Circuit Court in disqualifying illiterate jurors is restricted to illiterate Negro jurors. To the contrary, the evidence in this case reflects that the practice is to disqualify all illiterate jurors regardless of their race. The Alabama law empowers the court to excuse any person who appears to be unfit for serving on the jury, Title 30, § 21, Code of Alabama, 1940. This court does not find that such a practice on the part of the Circuit Court of Lowndes County, Alabama, deprives this petitioner or any other defendant who might be prosecuted in the Circuit Court of Lowndes County— whether he be white or black — of any federally-guaranteed constitutional rights. Petitioner’s argument that the law requires that the jury venire of the area in which it is drawn include a cross section of the social, political, economic, religious, and racial groups within the jurisdiction of the court is not applicable. The cases of Strauder v. State of West Virginia, 100 U.S. 303, 25 L.Ed. 664 (1879); Hernandez v. State of Texas, 347 U.S. 475, 74 S.Ct. 667, 98 L.Ed. 866, and Brown v. Allen, 344 U.S. 443, 73 S.Ct. 397, 97 L.Ed. 469, relied upon strenuously by the petitioner in this case, merely pronounce basic constitutional principles.

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Related

Strauder v. West Virginia
100 U.S. 303 (Supreme Court, 1880)
Brown v. Allen
344 U.S. 443 (Supreme Court, 1953)
Hernandez v. Texas
347 U.S. 475 (Supreme Court, 1954)
Dombrowski v. Pfister
380 U.S. 479 (Supreme Court, 1965)
City of Greenwood v. Peacock
384 U.S. 808 (Supreme Court, 1966)
Cameron v. Johnson
390 U.S. 611 (Supreme Court, 1968)
Wright v. City of Montgomery, Alabama
282 F. Supp. 291 (M.D. Alabama, 1968)
Johnson v. City of Montgomery
245 F. Supp. 25 (M.D. Alabama, 1965)
White v. Crook
251 F. Supp. 401 (M.D. Alabama, 1966)
Cochran v. City of Eufaula
251 F. Supp. 981 (M.D. Alabama, 1966)
D'Elia v. New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad
380 U.S. 978 (Supreme Court, 1965)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
288 F. Supp. 655, 1968 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9439, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/johnson-v-state-almd-1968.