In the case of Charley Smith v. Mississippi in 1895, Charley Smith, an African American man, was convicted for murder by a jury composed entirely of white men. He appealed to the Supreme Court arguing that his Fourteenth Amendment rights were violated as he was denied equal protection under the law due to racial discrimination during jury selection. The state laws at that time allowed only white males to serve on juries which resulted in systematic exclusion of black jurors. However, the Supreme Court upheld his conviction stating that while it is unconstitutional for states to exclude individuals from jury service based on race or color, there wasn't enough evidence presented proving such discrimination occurred during Smith's trial specifically. This ruling highlighted how difficult it could be for defendants like Smith to prove systemic racism within their individual trials and thus marked another instance where legal protections against racial discrimination fell short in practice.

In the dissenting opinion for Charley Smith v. Mississippi, Justice Harlan argued that the majority's decision violated both the Equal Protection Clause and Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. He contended that excluding African Americans from jury service based on their race was a clear violation of equal protection under law. Furthermore, he asserted that this exclusion also infringed upon an individual’s right to due process by denying them a fair trial before an impartial jury representative of their community's racial composition. Harlan emphasized his belief in equality before law regardless of color or race and criticized his colleagues' interpretation as undermining these fundamental constitutional principles.