| Lane v. Wilson | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Argued March 3, 1939 Decided May 22, 1939 | |
| Full case name | Lane v. Wilson et al. |
| Citations | 307U.S.268 (more) 59 S. Ct. 872; 83L. Ed. 1281 |
| Case history | |
| Prior | 98F.2d980 (10th Cir. 1938);cert. granted,305 U.S. 591 (1938). |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Frankfurter, joined by Hughes, Stone, Roberts, Black, Reed |
| Dissent | McReynolds, Butler |
| Douglas took no part in the consideration or decision of the case. | |
Lane v. Wilson, 307 U.S. 268 (1939), was aUnited States Supreme Court case that found a 12-day one-timevoter registration window to be discriminatory for black citizens who were excluded from voting prior and repugnant to theFifteenth Amendment.[1] It eliminated the power of county registrars illegally excluding black citizens.
In 1915, theSupreme Court of the United States held inGuinn v. United States that agrandfather clause to Oklahoma'sliteracy test for voting was unconstitutional, violating the Fifteenth Amendment. In response, theOklahoma legislature passed a law giving citizens of the state a 12-day period, from April 30 to May 11, 1916, in which they were allowed to register to vote. Individuals who missed that registration period would be barred permanently from voting. But, a grandfather clause exempting citizens who had voted in 1914, that is, beforeGuinn, largely exempted white voters from the provisions of the narrow registration window.[2][3][4] In practice, the registration period worked against black citizens.
I. W. Lane, a black citizen of Oklahoma, was banned from voting under Oklahoma's rules, and sued for $5,000 in damages. The district court found against him, and theTenth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the ruling of the district court.[5] Lane appealed to the US Supreme Court.
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Justice Frankfurter delivered the ruling of the court, which held that Oklahoma's registration window and grandfather clause violated the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.[6]
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