by John Marshall Harlan

“ When a state court has entered upon the trial of a criminal case, under a statute not repugnant to the constitution of the United States, and has jurisdiction of the offense and of the accused, no mere error in the conduct of the trial should be made the basis of jurisdiction in a court of the United States to review the proceedings upon writ of habeas corpus. ”

“ A review by an appellate court of the final judgment in a criminal case, however grave the offense of which the accused is convicted, was not at common law, and is not now, a necessary element of due process of law. ”

“ That all persons of African race and of color were excluded from the grand jury by which the indictment against the defendant was found, and upon which he was tried, and consequently said indictment was illegal and void, and petitioner ought not to have been put to trial upon said indictment, and the trial court was without jurisdiction, and that said persons were qualified in all respects to act both as jurors and grand jurors, but were purposely excluded, and always have been, by the sheriff of Warren county. ”