In Turner et al. v. Fouche et al., the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a Georgia county's method of selecting school board members was unconstitutional because it violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The case arose when African American residents in Toombs County, Georgia, challenged their exclusion from juries and local school boards due to discriminatory practices by local officials who handpicked individuals for these roles based on personal knowledge rather than objective criteria or random selection processes. The court found that this system allowed for racial discrimination and was therefore unlawful under federal law which requires equal protection under the law for all citizens regardless of race or color.

In the dissenting opinion for Turner et al. v. Fouche et al., Justice Harlan argued that the majority's decision to strike down a Georgia law requiring school board members to be "freeholders" (property owners) was an overreach of judicial power. He contended that it is not within the Court's purview to dictate qualifications for local office, and such decisions should be left up to state and local governments as long as they do not violate explicit constitutional prohibitions or infringe upon federally protected rights. Harlan also disagreed with the majority’s interpretation of “one person, one vote” principle in this context, arguing that it does not apply because school boards are administrative bodies rather than legislative ones; therefore their membership needn't reflect population distribution exactly like electoral districts must.