In the case of Crutcher v. Kentucky, 1890, the U.S Supreme Court upheld a decision by the state of Kentucky to deny African American citizens from serving on juries. The plaintiff, William Crutcher was an African American man who had been convicted for murder by an all-white jury in Kentucky. He appealed his conviction arguing that he was denied equal protection under the law because black men were systematically excluded from jury service in violation of his Fourteenth Amendment rights. However, despite acknowledging that there may have been racial discrimination in selecting jurors at a county level, Justice Samuel Blatchford delivered the opinion of court stating that it could not be proven beyond doubt that such exclusion occurred due to laws or customs within Kentucky and therefore did not violate federal law or constitutionally guaranteed rights.

The dissenting opinion in the Crutcher v. Kentucky case argued that the majority's decision was inconsistent with previous rulings and violated constitutional rights. The dissenters believed that the state law, which allowed for a person to be convicted of selling liquor without a license based on circumstantial evidence alone, was unconstitutional. They contended that this ruling undermined the presumption of innocence until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt - a fundamental principle in American jurisprudence. Furthermore, they expressed concern about potential misuse or abuse of such laws by authorities due to their broad interpretation and application possibilities. Thus, they disagreed with upholding Mr.Crutcher's conviction solely based on circumstantial evidence as it set an alarming precedent for future cases.