Because Lonnie E. Smith is a Negro, election judges in Houston, Tex. barred him from the polls in a 1940 Democratic primary. Lonnie Smith saw his lawyers. This week the Supreme Court of the U.S. decided (8-to-1) that Texas must not bar Negroes from voting in primaries because of race. This had meaning for all Southern states—although poll taxes and “educational requirements” will still keep many a Negro from voting.
The Court had scrapped a nine-year-old precedent. In 1935 the Justices had decided that voting in the primaries was a “privilege” which the Democratic Party could extend or withhold—something like using the lounge in an exclusive club. This week they decided that those who miss out on the Southern Democratic primaries miss out on the election.
What most annoyed Lone-Dissenter Justice Owen Roberts was a Court which keeps changing its mind. Said he: Supreme Court decisions are beginning to look like “a restricted railroad ticket, good for this day and train only.”
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