In McDaniel v. North Carolina (1967), the U.S Supreme Court dealt with a case involving an African American man, James McDaniel, who was convicted of rape in North Carolina state court and sentenced to death. The primary issue at hand was whether the jury selection process had been racially discriminatory as no black person had served on a grand or petit jury in that county for over 20 years despite constituting about 30% of its population. The defense argued this violated his rights under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment which prohibits states from denying any person within their jurisdiction equal protection under law. However, due to lack of evidence showing intentional racial discrimination by officials during juror selection process, it could not be conclusively proven that there was systematic exclusion based on race. Therefore, while acknowledging potential issues with representation in juries generally across southern states at that time period, the Supreme Court upheld McDaniel's conviction.

The dissenting opinion in the case of McDaniel v. North Carolina argued that the majority's decision to overturn McDaniel's conviction was incorrect. The dissenters believed that there was sufficient evidence for a reasonable jury to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that McDaniel had committed the crime he was accused of, namely breaking and entering with intent to commit rape. They pointed out several pieces of circumstantial evidence supporting this conclusion, including his presence near the scene of the crime shortly before it occurred, his possession of items stolen from the victim’s home, and inconsistencies in his alibi. Furthermore, they disagreed with the majority's interpretation of state law regarding what constitutes "breaking," arguing that any entry into a dwelling without consent should be considered as such regardless if force is used or not. Therefore, they felt it would have been more appropriate for them to defer judgment on this point to North Carolina courts rather than making their own determination.