McGahey v. Virginia was a Supreme Court case that was decided in 1966. The case involved a challenge to Virginia's poll tax, which was a tax that had to be paid in order to vote. The plaintiff, William McGahey, argued that the poll tax was unconstitutional because it violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Supreme Court agreed with McGahey and ruled that the poll tax was unconstitutional. The Court held that the poll tax was a form of discrimination against the poor and that it violated the Equal Protection Clause. The ruling in this case was a major victory for civil rights activists, as it helped to ensure that all citizens had the right to vote regardless of their economic status.

In the Supreme Court case of McGahey v. Virginia, Justice William O. Douglas wrote a dissenting opinion in which he argued that the state's decision to deny an African American man access to its bar exam was unconstitutional and violated his right to equal protection under the law as guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. He noted that while states have broad authority over their own legal systems, they cannot use this power in a way that discriminates against certain classes of people or denies them fundamental rights without due process of law. In this case, he argued, Virginia had done just that by denying Mr. McGahey access to its bar exam on account of his race alone; thus it had deprived him of equal protection under the Constitution and should be held accountable for doing so.