Herndon v. Howard was a United States Supreme Court case that dealt with the issue of racial discrimination in the criminal justice system. The case involved a black man, Alfred Herndon, who was convicted of larceny in Georgia and sentenced to two years of hard labor. Herndon appealed his conviction, arguing that the jury that convicted him was composed entirely of white men and that he was denied the right to a trial by a jury of his peers. The Supreme Court agreed with Herndon, ruling that the exclusion of black jurors from the jury violated the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause. The Court held that the exclusion of black jurors was a form of racial discrimination and that it was unconstitutional. The Court also held that the exclusion of black jurors was a violation of the right to a trial by a jury of one's peers. The Herndon v. Howard decision was an important step in the fight against racial discrimination in the criminal justice system. The decision established that the exclusion of black jurors was unconstitutional and that the right to a trial by a jury of one's peers was a fundamental right that could not be denied. The decision also set a precedent for future cases involving racial discrimination in the criminal justice system.

In Herndon v. Howard, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a state law that prohibited white and black people from holding public meetings together violated the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause. The majority opinion held that it did not violate the clause because it applied equally to both races. However, Justice Field dissented from this decision, arguing that while the law may have been applied equally to both races, its purpose was discriminatory in nature and thus unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment. He argued that by prohibiting whites and blacks from meeting together for political purposes, it denied African Americans their right of association with whites which is essential for them to participate fully in society as citizens of equal standing with other members of society. Furthermore he argued that such laws were intended only to oppress African Americans rather than promote any legitimate governmental interest or protect public safety or morality as claimed by Georgia’s legislature when they passed this law into effect.