enever a wrong judgment is rendered,
property is taken when it should not have been; yet whatever the ground
may be, if the mistake is not so gross as to be impossible in a rational
administration of justice, it is no more than the imperfection of man,
not a denial of constitutional rights.[1003] In conclusion, the decision
of a State court upon a question of local law, however wrong, is not an
infraction of the Fourteenth Amendment merely because it is wrong. It is
not for the Supreme Court to determine whether there has been an
erroneous construction of a State statute or the common law; nor does
the Constitution impose any impediment to the correction or modification
by a State court of erroneous or older constructions of local law
embraced in previous decisions.[1004]

Equal Protection of the Laws

DEFINITIONS OF TERMS

What Constitutes State Action

The inhibition against denial of equal protection of the laws has
exclusive reference to State action. It means that no agency of the
State, legislative, executive or judicial,[1005] no instrumentality of
the State, and no person, officer or agent exerting the power of the
State shall deny equal protection to any person within the jurisdiction
of the State. The clause prohibits "discriminating and partial
legislation * * * in favor of particular persons as against others in
like condition."[1006] But it also has reference to the way the law is
administered. "Though the law itself be fair on its face and impartial
in appearance, yet, if it is applied and administered by public
authority with an evil eye and an unequal hand, so as practically to
make unjust and illegal discriminations between persons in similar
circumstances, material to their rights, the denial of equal justice is
still within the prohibition of the Constitution."[1007] This was said
in a case where a Chinese subject had been convicted of operating a
laundry in violation of a municipal ordinance which made it unlawful to
engage in such business (except in a building constructed of brick or
stone) without the consent of the board of supervisors. Permission had
been withheld from petitioner and 200 other Chinese subjects but had
been granted to 80 others to carry on the same business under similar
conditions. This discrimination solely on the basis of nationality was
held illegal. For an unlawful administration of a valid statute to
constitute a violation of constitutional rights, purposeful
dis