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Asians, race and law in the American West: Charles Pumphrey v. State of Nebraska (1909), a case study
Abstract
The relationship of race and law has been one of the most persistent and sensitive issues in American legal studies. Generally speaking, law and justice in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century were created for the majority of the society--white Americans. Asian immigrants had been treated as equal as whites before American courts. Blunt disregard of court procedures and a willingness to tolerate racial prejudice especially characterized state court judges when handling Asian cases, particularly criminal cases. In spite of this general trend, justice for Asians had never been completely denied in western state courts. The decision of the Nebraska Supreme Court in the Pumphrey v. State (1909) is a good example. In July 1907, Han Pak, a Chinese restaurant owner was killed by Charles Pumphrey, a white man and two blacks, Basil Mullen and Willis Almack during a robbery. Pumphrey was arrested, tried, and convicted of this murder, and was sentenced to life imprisonment. So too were Mullen and Almack in separate trials. But Pumphrey appealed his conviction to the Nebraska Supreme Court claiming that the main witness, Jack Naoi, was citizen of Japan, a non-Christian alien and a heathen and therefore, unable to give credible testimony. Given the fact that a strong, nationwide anti-Japanese sentiment was brewing at that time, the Nebraska Supreme Court might have followed the public will and the precedents established by some other western states, such as California or Oregon, which prohibited an Asian from giving testimony against a white defendant on the basis of racial and ethnic "differences." Instead, the Court neither followed those precedents nor found Pumphrey's argument particularly convincing. It chose to uphold the lower court's decision and Pumphrey was sentenced to life in prison. The decision of the Nebraska Supreme Court clearly indicated Nebraska judges's disapproval of racial discrimination against Asian immigrants and showed a considerable level of judicial professionalism. In so doing, the Nebraska court also established a landmark decision in the legal history of Nebraska and the American West. This dissertation is a reconstruction of this significant case. Using case study methodology, it examines the historical circumstances under which Pumphrey's case occurred, its consequences and significance.
Subject Area
American history|Law
Recommended Citation
Lu, Ke, "Asians, race and law in the American West: Charles Pumphrey v. State of Nebraska (1909), a case study" (1997). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI9815897.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI9815897