State v. Madison

Hornby, J.,

filed the following dissenting opinion in which Barnes, J., concurred.

I do not agree that all pending indictments or trials by grand or petit jurors selected under the provisions of Article 36 of the Declaration of Rights are defective as to those indictees who profess a belief in God. Nor do I agree that the sustaining of an indictment against a person who believes in God and the dismissal of an indictment against a person who does not have such a belief would invariably constitute an unconstitutional discrimination in favor of nonbelievers as against believers.

Torcaso v. Watkins,…