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Groppi v. Wisconsin
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued December 7, 1970 Decided January 25, 1971
Full case name	James Edmund Groppi, Appellant v. State of Wisconsin
Citations	400 U.S. 505 (more) 91 S. Ct. 490 (1971) 27 L.Ed.2d 571
Case history
Prior	Defendant convicted, Milwaukee County Circuit Court; conviction upheld, Wisconsin Supreme Court, 41 Wis.2d 312, 164 N.W.2d 266
Holding
A Wisconsin law which prevents a change of venue in a jury trial in a criminal procedure, regardless of local antipathy towards defendant, solely because the charge is a misdemeanor, violates the accused's right to an impartial jury. Wisconsin Supreme Court vacated and remanded
Court membership
Chief Justice Warren E. Burger Associate Justices Hugo Black · William O. Douglas John M. Harlan II · William J. Brennan Jr. Potter Stewart · Byron White Thurgood Marshall · Harry Blackmun
Case opinions
Majority	Stewart, joined by Douglas, Harlan, Brennan, Stewart, White, and Marshall
Concurrence	Blackmun, joined by Burger
Dissent	Black
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend VI U.S. Const. amend XIV

Groppi v. Wisconsin, 400 U.S. 505 (1971), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that a state law barring a change of venue in a misdemeanor jury trial, regardless of local prejudice against the defendant, violates the defendant's right to an impartial jury under the Sixth Amendment, extended to state courts by the Fourteenth Amendment.

Background

Father James E. Groppi was a Catholic priest and civil rights activist in Milwaukee, Wisconsin during the African American civil rights movement in the late 1960s. Assigned as the priest of the black-majority parish of St. Boniface's, Groppi joined the march on Washington in 1963 and the Selma to Montgomery marches in 1965 in support of the Voting Rights Act. He also worked with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference registering voters in the South in 1965. When Groppi returned to Milwaukee in 1965, he began working with the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), protesting against segregation of Milwaukee Public Schools.

In Summer 1967, race riots broke out across the United States. In late July, a riot broke out in Milwaukee, on the predominantly African-American north side. Order was restored by August 4, but tensions remained in the city. On August 27, Groppi led his congregation on a march through white neighborhoods to protest housing discrimination. On August 29, Groppi took part in another march which was met by a mob of 13,000 counter-protesters and sniper fire. NAACP headquarters burned that night, and Milwaukee Mayor Henry Maier banned similar demonstrations. On August 31, Groppi, along with fellow activist/alderman Vel Phillips and others, was arrested marching on Milwaukee City Hall for violating Maier's order, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest.

Due to local antipathy to Father Groppi due to his activism, he attempted to get a change of venue to be tried before a more impartial jury. At the time, Wisconsin Statute § 953.03(3) stated:

"If a defendant who is charged with a felony files his affidavit that an impartial trial cannot be had in the county, the court may change the venue of the action to any county where an impartial trial can be had. Only one change may be granted under this subsection."

Under Wisconsin law, Groppi faced a potential fine of $500, up to a year in county jail, or both, for resisting arrest, a misdemeanor. The trial judge denied Groppi's motion. On appeal, the Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld the trial court's ruling, noting that Groppi's lawyers were still able to conduct voir dire with potential jurors and ask for a continuance if necessary, and, in the event of a conviction, the judge could still set aside the verdict if he felt Groppi had not gotten a fair and impartial trial. The majority also thought that "it would be extremely unusual for a community as a whole to prejudge the guilt of any person charged with a misdemeanor." Two justices dissented, arguing that the statute did not categorically forbid a change of venue in a misdemeanor case, and, if such a prohibition did exist, it would be unconstitutional. The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari and heard arguments on December 7, 1970.