Ernest Smith v. United States of America, Beatrice K. Brown v. United States

The appellants were convicted in separate jury trials of forging and uttering government checks. The District Court denied a motion to appeal in forma pau-peris, but leave was given by this Court to proceed in forma pauperis and the cases were heard here on their merits. Because a single issue is involved in each case, they were heard together.

The appellants are each Negroes. At their respective trials in June, 1958, at Norfolk, Virginia, counsel for Appellant Brown asked prospective jurors on the voir dire examination the following question: “Are there any members of the jury panel who are a…