Orzell Billingsley, Sr., C. Herbert Oliver, J. S. Phifer and Abraham Woods, Jr. v. George W. Clayton

GEWIN, Circuit Judge:

This is a jury exclusion case, but not one of the usual type. Most of the cases dealing with the subject arise from a conviction in a serious criminal case in which it is claimed that the constitutional rights of a Negro defendant have been infringed because Negroes were systematically excluded from jury service. This is a civil proceeding.

The Negro plaintiffs (appellants) brought this class action against the three members and the cerk of the Jefferson County, Alabama Jury Board (appellees), claiming systematic exclusion of qualified Negroes from the jury rolls of…