In the 1903 case of Giles v. Teasley, Board of Registrars of Montgomery County, Alabama, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on a dispute regarding voter registration in Alabama. The plaintiff, Jackson W. Giles, an African American man and former slave who had been voting since 1867 without issue was denied re-registration under new state laws that imposed literacy tests and property requirements for voters - measures widely recognized as means to disenfranchise black citizens during this period in history known as Jim Crow era. He filed suit against the board of registrars claiming these restrictions violated his Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendment rights which guarantee equal protection under law and prohibit racial discrimination in voting respectively. The court however upheld Alabama's restrictive voting laws arguing that while they may have disproportionately affected African Americans due to prevailing social conditions at time; they were not inherently discriminatory because they applied equally to all citizens regardless their race or color thus did not violate constitutional amendments cited by Mr.Giles.

The dissenting opinion in the case of Giles v. Teasley, Board of Registrars of Montgomery County, Alabama argued that the majority's decision was flawed because it failed to consider the broader implications and consequences for voting rights. The dissent contended that by upholding a literacy test as a prerequisite for voter registration, the court effectively sanctioned racial discrimination since such tests were often used to disenfranchise African American voters during this period. Furthermore, they believed that these types of requirements violated both equal protection under law and due process clauses within Fourteenth Amendment. They also expressed concern about potential abuse or arbitrary enforcement by local registrars who had significant discretion in administering these tests.