Robert "Bobby" Hall was an African American mechanic and World War II veteran.

The same day, Claude Screws produced a forged arrest warrant alleging Robert Hall had stolen a tire.

Upon arriving at the Baker County Courthouse grounds, the two deputies and the inebriated sheriff Claude Screws then brutalized the handcuffed Hall for fifteen to thirty minutes in public view.

[5] The Supreme Court, in a decision authored by William O. Douglas, ruled that the federal government had not shown that Screws had the intention of violating Hall's civil rights when he killed him.

This ruling greatly reduced the frequency with which federal civil rights cases were brought over the next few years.