Hernandez v. State of Texas
Edna, Jackson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Through the 19th and early 20th century, written laws and unwritten practices discriminated against minority groups. A federal court case originating here in Edna helped to overturn some of those practices and advance the cause of civil rights. In August 1951, Pedro (Pete) Hernandez was arrested for killing Jose (Joe) Espinosa at the Gato Negro Cafe on Menefee Street. Two months later, an all-Anglo jury convicted Hernandez of murder with a sentence of life imprisonment. The district court and Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the decision and refused new hearings. In response, attorneys Gustavo Garcia (1914-1964), Carlos Cadena (1917-2001), John Herrera (1910-1986) and James DeAnda (1925-2006) appealed Hernandez v. State of Texas to the U.S. Supreme Court. Until that point, most court decisions identified Hispanic citizens as White or Caucasian, classifying only African Americans as a group receiving "separate but equal" treatment under the law. Because Jackson County had excluded people of Mexican descent from serving on juries for at least 25 years, Cadena and Garcia argued that Mexican Americans were treated as "a class apart." On May 3, 1954, the court decided unanimously in favor of Hernandez and overturned his conviction. Chief Justice Earl Warren delivered the opinion of the court, agreeing that Mexican Americans' exclusion from juries was "discrimination prohibited by the Fourteenth Amendment." Hernandez was later convicted of murder in a new trial in Refugio with Mexican Americans serving on the jury. After serving time in the state penitentiary, he was paroled. Thus the first case argued by Mexican Americans before the Supreme Court, Hernandez v. State of Texas, was a landmark decision for Mexican American civil rights. The successful challenge widened the legal definition of discrimination beyond race and contributed to future victories in the civil rights movement. (2009)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
A murder at Edna's Gato Negro Cafe in 1951 set in motion a case that reached the highest court in the land. When Pedro Hernandez was convicted by an all-Anglo jury, Mexican American attorneys Gustavo Garcia, Carlos Cadena, John Herrera, and James DeAnda argued that Jackson County's decades-long exclusion of people of Mexican descent from juries treated them as "a class apart." On May 3, 1954, a unanimous Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Earl Warren agreed, ruling that such discrimination violated the Fourteenth Amendment.
Why it matters
The first case argued by Mexican American lawyers before the Supreme Court, Hernandez v. Texas extended constitutional protection beyond Black and white and became a landmark in the broader American civil rights movement.
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Related people
- · Pedro Hernandez
- · Gustavo Garcia
- · Carlos Cadena
- · John Herrera
- · James DeAnda
- · Earl Warren
Related events
- · Hernandez v. State of Texas
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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