Hernandez v. Texas extended protection to Mexican Americans under which amendment?

• A. It applied under the First Amendment.
• B. It extended protection under the Fourteenth Amendment.
• C. It applied under the Sixth Amendment.
• D. It had no impact on juries.

Answer: (B)

The key idea is equal protection under state law. Hernandez v. Texas held that Mexican Americans are a class protected by the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause, so the state cannot treat them differently simply because of their ethnicity. Excluding Mexican Americans from juries because of their ethnicity violated that guarantee, so the case extended constitutional protection to them through the Fourteenth Amendment. This is about state actions affecting rights in criminal prosecutions, not about First Amendment freedoms (speech, religion) or Sixth Amendment rights (right to counsel, speedy trial). The decision shows how the Fourteenth Amendment guards individuals against racial or ethnic discrimination in the justice system, including who can serve on a jury.