# State v. Cofield

> Supreme Court of North Carolina · July 7, 1987 · 320 N.C. 297

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9599932

## Case

- **Full name:** State of North Carolina v. Ernest Richard Cofield
- **Court:** Supreme Court of North Carolina
- **Decided:** July 7, 1987
- **Citations:** 320 N.C. 297; 357 S.E.2d 622; 1987 N.C. LEXIS 2152
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Concurrence by Meyer
- **Judges:** Exum, Meyer, Mitchell, Webb, Whichard
- **Cited by:** 33 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9599932

## How later opinions describe it (automated extraction)

- finding that racial discrimination in selection of a grand jury foreperson violates the United States and North Carolina Constitutions, and stating that "Article I, section 26 (of the North Carolina Constitution) does more than protect individuals from unequal treatment"

## Opinion text

Justice MEYER
concurring in result.
I concur in section III of the majority opinion insofar as it holds that the equal protection guarantees of the fourteenth amendment of the United States Constitution prohibit racial discrimination in the selection of a grand jury foreman and thus a remand of this case for findings is dictated. The United States Constitution dictates the minimum equal protection rights of individuals in the sense that an individual’s equal protection rights may be greater under a state constitution, but his rights under the federal constitution may not be diminished thereby. Thus, I find it unnecessary and unwise to proceed to any analysis of rights under the state constitution.

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9599932. Public record. Not legal advice.