Home > Great American Court Cases > Terry v. Adams

Legal Citation: 345 U.S. 461 (1953)

Petitioner
Terry

Respondent
Adams

Petitioner's Claim
That excluding black voters from the Jaybird Democratic Association's primary elections violated their right to vote based on race and color.

Chief Lawyer for Petitioner
J. Edwin Smith

Chief Lawyer for the Respondent
Edgar E. Townes, Jr.

Justices for the Court
Hugo Lafayette Black (writing for the Court), Harold Burton, Tom C. Clark, William O. Douglas, Felix Frankfurter, Robert H. Jackson, Stanley Forman Reed, Fred Moore Vinson

Justices Dissenting
Sherman Minton

Place
Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision
4 May 1953

Decision
Reversed a decision by a court of appeals and held that the combined election procedures of the association and the Democratic Party deprived black...