Kentucky actually have the effect of making juries impartial (impartial means fair or without bias)? Batson challenged the removal of these jurors as violating his Sixth Amendment right to an impartial jury and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The jury convicted petitioner on both counts.
Full Answer
What was the case of Batson v Kentucky?
Batson v. Kentucky. Case summary for Batson v. Kentucky: Batson, an African American was charged with burglary and receiving stolen property. The state used all their peremptory challenges to keep African Americans off the jury.
How was the jury selected in the case of Kentucky?
KENTUCKY (1986) During the criminal trial in a Kentucky state court of petitioner, a black man, the judge conducted voir dire examination of the jury venire and excused certain jurors for cause. The prosecutor then used his peremptory challenges to strike all four black persons on the venire, and a jury composed only of white persons was selected.
Why did Batson challenge the removal of these jurors?
Batson challenged the removal of these jurors as violating his Sixth Amendment right to an impartial jury and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment . The jury convicted petitioner on both counts.
Why was the Supreme Court's decision in Batson case a good one?
Joe Gutmann, the prosecutor in Batson's 1982 trial, said that the Supreme Court's decision was "a good one" because it prevents lawyers from discriminating in jury selection. He teaches government and history at inner-city Louisville Central High School.
What was the impact of the Batson decision on jury selection?
In Batson the court ruled that the defendant could make a prima facie case for purposeful racial discrimination in jury selection by relying on the record only in his own case.
Is the Batson rule effective?
In 1986, the U.S. Supreme Court in Batson v. Kentucky ruled that a prosecutor's exercise of race-based peremptory challenges to jurors violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Thirty years later, according to the experts, the law has been a colossal failure.
What is the importance of Batson v Kentucky in jury selection?
Batson challenged the removal of these jurors as violating his Sixth Amendment right to an impartial jury and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment . The jury convicted petitioner on both counts. On appeal, the Supreme Court of Kentucky affirmed the convictions.
What is the ruling in the case of Batson v Kentucky and what effect does it have on jury selection?
In cases involving the venire, this Court has found a prima facie case on proof that members of the defendant's race were substantially underrepresented on the venire from which his jury was drawn, and that the venire was selected under a practice providing "the opportunity for discrimination." Whitus v.
What happens when a Batson challenge is successful?
Making a Successful Batson Challenge If the judge feels enough of a showing has been made by the defense, he or she will then direct the Prosecutor to explain why that specific juror was eliminated. The Prosecutor will then give reasons (other than race) why he or she chose to remove the potential juror.
What happens when a defendant makes a Batson challenge during the jury selection process?
If the defendant proves a Batson violation during jury selection, the usual remedy is to dismiss the entire panel of potential jurors, declare a mistrial, and select a new jury. Alternatively, a judge can decide to include the challenged juror in the jury, or to give the defendant additional peremptory challenges.
What makes a jury impartial?
An impartial jury is a jury that will consider a case fairly, without favoring or discriminating against anyone. The jury must be willing to look at the evidence open-mindedly. An impartial jury does not immediately assume guilt or innocence. They want to see the evidence and hear the arguments first.
What is the importance of the 1986 Batson v Kentucky ruling quizlet?
What is the importance of the 1986 Batson v. Kentucky ruling? Gave hope to black defendants Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986), was a case in which the United States Supreme Court ruled that a prosecutor's dismissal of jurors without a valid cause—may not be used to exclude jurors based solely on their race.
How did lawyers find a loophole with the Batson rule?
Prosecutors found a loophole in the Batson rule, however—they can simply come up with false reasons to dismiss a juror as a pretext for racial discrimination. For example, a prosecutor can question a black juror and jot down a nonracial reason that he or she can articulate later if the defense questions the challenge.
What happened after the Batson v. Kentucky?
Nearly 20 years after Batson v. Kentucky, the Mississippi Supreme Court had to retroactively remove a murder conviction after the prosecution used 15 challenges to remove Black jurors.
What does Batson apply to?
On the bad side, Batson applies to defense challenges just like prosecution challenges. In addition, Batson isn't limited to challenges of minority jurors; it's been held to apply to any challenge based on race, including challenging a white juror based solely on his or her race.
What options are available to the court if a jury engages in jury nullification quizlet?
What options are available to the court if a jury engages in jury nullification? Jurors are allowed to read peer-reviewed scholarly works (journals) to expand their knowledge on the subject at hand.
What is the significance of Batson v. Kentucky?
79 (1986), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court ruling that a prosecutor's use of a peremptory challenge in a criminal case—the dismissal of jurors without stating a valid cause for doing so—may not be used to exclude jurors based solely on their race.
Why was the Supreme Court decision in Batson's trial a good one?
Joe Gutmann, the prosecutor in Batson's 1982 trial, said that the Supreme Court's decision was "a good one" because it prevents lawyers from discriminating in jury selection. He teaches government and history at inner-city Louisville Central High School.
What is the Batson challenge?
The term Batson challenge describes an objection to opposing counsel's use of a peremptory challenge to exclude a juror from the jury pool based on criteria the courts have found disqualifying, as race was the sole rationale for exclusion in Batson .
What did Warren Burger say about the decision in Batson?
In his dissenting opinion, Chief Justice Warren Burger argued that the court's decision in Batson "sets aside the peremptory challenge, a procedure which has been part of the common law for many centuries and part of our jury system for nearly 200 years". He believed the majority was replacing peremptory challenges with something very similar to challenge for cause, but was unclear in explaining the standard to be applied. "I am at a loss to discern the governing principles here," he wrote. "I join my colleagues in wishing the nation's judges well as they struggle to grasp how to implement today's holding."
What court did Batson appeal to?
Batson continued his appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, which granted certiorari to decide whether petitioner was tried "in violation of constitutional provisions guaranteeing the defendant an impartial jury and a jury composed of persons representing a fair cross section of the community.".
What does the court show about the defendant's race?
The Court explained: The defendant first must show that he is a member of a cognizable racial group, and that the prosecutor has exercised peremptory challenges to remove from the venire [jury pool] members of the defendant's race.
How long was Batson in jail?
Case participants after Batson. When the Supreme Court reversed his conviction, Batson was serving a twenty-year sentence. Rather than risk a retrial, he pleaded guilty to burglary and received a five-year prison sentence.
What was Batson charged with?
Batson, an African American man, was charged with burglary and receiving stolen goods. When selecting the jury, the prosecution used up all of his peremptory challenges to discharge all of the African Americans.
Why did the state use all their peremptory challenges?
The state used all their peremptory challenges to keep African Americans off the jury. Batson was convicted and claimed that the use of peremptory challenges based on race were unconstitutional.
When the defendant proves prima facie discrimination, the prosecution must provide a neutral explanation for challenging a possible
When the defendant proves prima facie discrimination, the prosecution must provide a neutral explanation for challenging a possible juror since Equal Protection prevents the state from prohibiting African Americans from the venire. Equal Protection also stops the prosecution from striking an African American simply because the defendant is African American.
What does Burger say about the burden of proof?
Justice Burger, for the dissent, writes that by requiring a reason behind a challenge and requiring the state to bear the burden of proof that challenges are not in violation of Equal Protection has the effect of taking away the “peremptory” nature of the challenge. Concurrence.
What did the judge do during the voir dire?
During trial of the matter, the judge conducted voir dire and excused certain jurors for cause . When it came time for peremptory challenges, the prosecutor used his to remove all of the black persons left on the venire, which left Batson, a black man, to be tried by an all-white jury..
Why did the defense move to discharge the jury?
Defense counsel moved to discharge the jury on the ground that the prosecutor's removal of the black veniremen violated petitioner's rights under the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to a jury drawn from a cross section of the community , and under the Fourteenth Amendment to equal protection of the laws .
Which case held that the States cannot deny jury trials in serious criminal cases?
Woods, 392 U.S. 631 (1968), that Duncan v. Louisiana, 391 U.S. 145 (1968), which held that the States cannot deny jury trials in serious criminal cases, did not require reversal of a state conviction for failure to grant a jury trial where the trial began prior to the date of the announcement in the Duncan decision.
What is the significance of Strauder v. West Virginia?
Strauder v. West Virginia, 100 U.S. 303 (1880). That decision laid the foundation for the Court's unceasing efforts to eradicate racial discrimination in the procedures used to select the venire from which individual jurors are drawn. In Strauder, the Court explained that the central concern of the recently ratified Fourteenth Amendment was to put an end to governmental discrimination on account of race. Id., at 306-307. Exclusion of black citizens from service as jurors constitutes a primary example of the evil the Fourteenth Amendment was designed to cure.
What was the purpose of the voir dire examination of the jury venire?
During the criminal trial in a Kentucky state court of petitioner, a black man, the judge conducted voir dire examination of the jury venire and excused certain jurors for cause . The prosecutor then used his peremptory challenges to strike all four black persons on the venire, and a jury composed only of white persons was selected. Defense counsel moved to discharge the jury on the ground that the prosecutor's removal of the black veniremen violated petitioner's rights under the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to a jury drawn from a cross section of the community, and under the Fourteenth Amendment to equal protection of the laws. Without expressly ruling on petitioner's request for a hearing, the trial judge denied the motion, and the jury ultimately convicted petitioner. Affirming the conviction, the Kentucky Supreme Court observed that recently, in another case, it had relied on Swain v. Alabama, 380 U.S. 202 , and had held that a defendant alleging lack of a fair cross section must demonstrate systematic exclusion of a group of jurors from the venire.
What is the Equal Protection Clause in West Virginia?
However, the Equal Protection Clause guarantees the defendant that the State will not exclude members of his race from the jury venire on account of race, or on the false assumption that members of his race as a group are not qualified to serve as jurors.
What is the Alabama case?
202 (1965), concerning the evidentiary burden placed on a criminal defendant who claims that he has been denied equal protection through the State's use of peremptory challenges to exclude members of his race from the petit jury. 1.
Which case affirmed the principle that a state denies a black defendant equal protection when it puts him on trial
1. The principle announced in Strauder v. West Virginia, 100 U.S. 303 , that a State denies a black defendant equal protection when it puts him on trial before a jury from which members of his race have been purposefully excluded, is reaffirmed. Pp. 84-89.
Overview
Background
- At the trial of James Kirkland Batson for burglary and receipt of stolen goods, the prosecutor used his peremptory challenges to remove all four African Americans from the jury pool. Batson challenged the removal of these jurors as violating his Sixth Amendment right to an impartial jury and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment (...
The Supreme Court's decision
Batson challenge
Case participants after Batson
See also
Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court ruling that a prosecutor's use of a peremptory challenge in a criminal case—the dismissal of jurors without stating a valid cause for doing so—may not be used to exclude jurors based solely on their race. The Court ruled that this practice violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The case gave rise to the term Batson challenge, an objection to a pere…
External links
James Kirkland Batson was an African American man convicted of burglary and receipt of stolen goods in a Louisville, Kentucky circuit court by a jury composed entirely of white jurors. The key part of his appeal was based on the jury selection, or voir dire, phase of the trial. During this phase potential jurors are examined by the Court, the prosecution, and the defense, to determine their competence, willingness, and suitability to hear, deliberate and decide a case put to them to ren…