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Morford v. United States
339 U.S. 258
SCOTUS
1950
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MORFORD v. UNITED STATES.

No. 236.

Supreme Court of the United States

Decided April 10, 1950.

339 U.S. 258

Abraham J. Isserman, David Rein and Joseph Forer for petitioner.

Solicitor General Perlman, Assistant Attorney General Campbell and Robert S. Erdahl for the United States.

PER CURIAM.

In this case the trial court did not permit counsel for petitioner to interrogate prospective government employee jurors upon voir dire examination with specific reference to the possible influence of the “Loyalty Order,” Executive Order No. 9835, on their ability to render a just and impartial verdict. Such questioning was permitted in

Dennis v. United States, ante, p. 162; see n. 4 of the Court‘s opinion,
ante, pp. 170-171
.

We said in

Dennis that “Preservation of the opportunity to prove actual bias is a guarantee of a defendant‘s right to an impartial jury.”
Ante, pp. 171-172
. Since that opportunity was denied in this case, the petition for writ of certiorari is granted and the judgment of the Court of Appeals is reversed.

Reversed.

MR. JUSTICE BLACK and MR. JUSTICE FRANKFURTER concur in the reversal for the reasons expressed in their opinions in

Dennis v. United States, ante, p. 162.

MR. JUSTICE DOUGLAS concurs in the reversal of the judgment. Since, however, counsel requested that all government employees be excluded from the jury in these cases, he thinks the request should have been granted for the reasons stated by the dissenting Justices in

Frazier v. United States, 335 U.S. 497, and in
Dennis v. United States, ante, p. 162
.

MR. JUSTICE CLARK took no part in the consideration or decision of this case.

Case Details

Case Name: Morford v. United States
Court Name: Supreme Court of the United States
Date Published: Apr 10, 1950
Citation: 339 U.S. 258
Docket Number: 236
Court Abbreviation: SCOTUS
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