Dixon v. State

Citations

• 74 Miss. 271

Syllabus

<p>1. Constitution of 1890. Jury laws enacted thereunder. Code 1892, l 2358.</p> <p>The constitution of 1890, and the fury laws enacted thereunder, are not obnoxious to'the fourteenth amendment to the constitution of the United States because of discrimination on account of race, color or previous condition of servitude. Gibson v. Mississippi, 162 U. S. Repts., 565.</p> <p>2. Same. Ratification. Representation in congress.</p> <p>The constitution of 1890 is not invalid because it was not submitted to and ratified by a vote of the people. Nor is it rendered inoperative because the state’s representation in congress has not been reduced since its adoption. Sproule v. Fredericks, 69 Miss., 898.</p> <p>3. Same. Construction. Limitations thereon.</p> <p>This court, in construing the constitution of 1890, must look alone to the perfected work of the convention. It has no power to investígate the private individual purposes of the members of that body, and cannot consider their racial complexion.</p> <p>4. Same. Sections 241, 242, and 244.</p> <p>Sections 241, 242, and 244 of the constitution of 1890 are not in violation of the fourteenth amendment of the constitution of the United States upon the idea that they discriminate, or that they vest in administrative officers the power to discriminate, against citizens by reason of race, color or previous condition of servitude.</p> <p>5. Same. Jurors. Payment of taxes.</p> <p>While it is essential, under the constitution of 1890, that a juror shall be a qualified elector, yet it is unnecessary that he shall have produced satisfactory evidence of the payment of taxes to the officers holding an election; such payment may be proved before the court.</p> <p>6. Criminal Law. Removal to United States coxirt. Negroes.</p> <p>If in the constitution or statutes of a state discrimination is made against negroes on account of race, color or previous condition of servitude, and they are by force thereof excluded from serving on juries, a d