In the case of Reeves v. Alabama in 1954, the U.S Supreme Court dealt with issues related to racial discrimination and due process rights. The petitioner, an African American man named Reeves was convicted for rape by an all-white jury in Alabama state court. He appealed his conviction on grounds that he was denied a fair trial because African Americans were systematically excluded from both grand and petit juries in violation of his Fourteenth Amendment right to equal protection under law. Furthermore, he argued that confessions obtained from him were coerced violating his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. However, the Supreme Court dismissed these claims stating there wasn't enough evidence presented to support them.

In the dissenting opinion for Reeves v. Alabama, it was argued that there were significant issues with how the jury selection process was conducted in this case. The dissenting justices believed that African Americans had been systematically excluded from serving on juries in Talladega County, where the trial took place. They pointed out that despite a substantial number of eligible black jurors living in the county, none had served on a jury for many years. This exclusion violated both state law and constitutional principles of equal protection under law and due process of law as per Fourteenth Amendment to US Constitution. Therefore, they disagreed with majority's decision to uphold Mr.Reeves' conviction by an all-white jury which failed to provide him fair representation or impartiality required by Sixth Amendment.