United States v. Guest

Petitioner

United States

Respondent

Herbert Guest, et al.

Petitioner's Claim

That the respondent conspired to deprive black citizens of their rights guaranteed by the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Chief Lawyer for Petitioner

Thurgood Marshall, U.S. Solicitor General

Chief Lawyers for Respondent

James E. Hudson, Charles J. Bloch

Justices for the Court

Hugo Lafayette Black, William J. Brennan, Jr., Tom C. Clark, Abe Fortas, Potter Stewart (writing for the Court), Byron R. White

Justices Dissenting

William O. Douglas, John Marshall Harlan II, Earl Warren

Place

Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision

28 March 1966

Decision

Reversed the judgment of the district court and held that the allegation of state involvement in conspiracy was sufficient to charge a violation of rights protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. The allegation of false arrest of black citizens was broad enough to cover a charge of active connivance by state agents, constituting a denial of rights protected by the Equal Protection Clause. Thus the district court should not have dismissed that part of the indictment.

Sources

West's Encyclopedia of American Law. Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN: West Publishing, 1998.

Further Readings

• Burns, James MacGregor. Government by the People. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1990.
• Congressional Quarterly's Guide to the U.S. Supreme Court. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly, Inc., 1979.
• FedWorld/FLITE. http://www.fedworld.gov.
• Litwack, Leon. The United States: Becoming a World Power, Vol. 2. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1987.