In Hayes v. Missouri, the Supreme Court of the United States was asked to decide whether a state could constitutionally deny a person the right to vote based on their race. The case arose when a black man, Thomas Hayes, attempted to register to vote in Missouri but was denied due to a state law that prohibited African Americans from voting. Hayes argued that the law violated the Fifteenth Amendment, which prohibits states from denying citizens the right to vote based on race. The Supreme Court agreed with Hayes, ruling that the Missouri law was unconstitutional. The Court held that the Fifteenth Amendment was intended to protect the right to vote for all citizens, regardless of race. The Court also noted that the Fifteenth Amendment was intended to prevent states from enacting laws that would effectively deny African Americans the right to vote. The Court's decision in Hayes v. Missouri was a major victory for civil rights advocates, as it established that states could not deny citizens the right to vote based on race. The decision also set a precedent for future cases involving voting rights, as it established that the Fifteenth Amendment was intended to protect the right to vote for all citizens, regardless of race.

Justice Field delivered the dissenting opinion in Hayes v. Missouri, arguing that the state of Missouri had violated the Fourteenth Amendment by denying a black man his right to serve on a jury. He argued that while states have broad authority to regulate their own affairs, they cannot do so if it violates an individual's constitutional rights. In this case, he argued that Mr. Hayes' exclusion from serving on a jury was based solely upon his race and therefore constituted discrimination prohibited under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Justice Field further noted that even though there may be some valid reasons for excluding certain individuals from juries due to their background or beliefs, such exclusions must not be based solely upon race as this would violate both federal law and fundamental principles of justice enshrined in our Constitution.