Jury bias matters.Byline: The Register-Guard IN A RULING that could significantly affect jury selection in death penalty cases, the U.S. Supreme Court last week ruled that an African-American on death row in Texas should be given another chance to have his sentence overturned because of alleged racial bias in jury selection during his 1986 murder trial. The ruling ensures that defendants in capital cases have at least the right to challenge how the juries in their cases were chosen. In the case of Thomas Joe Miller-El, prosecutors used their "peremptory challenges The right to challenge a juror without assigning, or being required to assign, a reason for the challenge. During the selection of a jury, both parties to the proceeding may challenge prospective jurors for a lack of impartiality, known as a challenge for cause. " - dismissals of potential jurors for which no reason need be given - to exclude 10 of the 11 African-Americans who were eligible to serve on the jury. The prosecutors excluded only four of 31 eligible white jurors. In the end, a jury of nine whites, an Asian-American, a Latino and an African-American found Miller-El guilty of capital murder in the 1985 slaying of two Holiday Inn employees. After his conviction, Miller-El's attorneys requested a hearing in the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in an effort to show that the defendant's right to a discrimination-free trial had been violated. The 5th Circuit refused the request for a hearing because, the court said, Miller-El lacked "clear and convincing" proof of racial bias. In its ruling last week, the Supreme Court said that the 5th Circuit used the wrong legal standard because all Miller-El needed to show was that his claim of racial bias in jury selection "was debatable de·bat·a·ble adj. 1. Being such that formal argument or discussion is possible. 2. Open to dispute; questionable. 3. In dispute, as land or territory claimed by more than one country. among jurists The following lists are of prominent jurists, including judges, listed in alphabetical order by jurisdiction. See also list of lawyers. Antiquity
"In this case, the statistical evidence alone raises some debate as to whether the prosecution acted with a race-based reason when striking prospective jurors," Justice Anthony Kennedy This article is about the Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. For the Maryland senator, see Anthony Kennedy (Maryland). Anthony McLeod Kennedy (born July 23, 1936) has been an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court since 1988. wrote in the court's majority opinion. Kennedy also wrote that the high court found "relevant" Miller-El's evidence that the Dallas County Dallas County is the name of five counties in the United States of America:
tr.v. suf·fused, suf·fus·ing, suf·fus·es To spread through or over, as with liquid, color, or light: "The sky above the roof is suffused with deep colors" with bias" in the past. That finding was based on a 1963 circular instructing the county's prosecutors to "not take Jews, Negroes ... Mexicans ... on a jury." The ruling doesn't guarantee anything for Miller-El, other than the 5th Circuit must now give him a fair hearing on his claim of racial bias at his trial. And it will - and certainly should - cause other trial and appellate courts A court having jurisdiction to review decisions of a trial-level or other lower court. An unsuccessful party in a lawsuit must file an appeal with an appellate court in order to have the decision reviewed. across the country to be diligent in hearing claims of racial bias in jury selection, particularly in capital cases. The issue here is not whether Miller-El is innocent or guilty. The issue is whether the jury selection in his case was biased against African-American jurors and, therefore, did not allow him a fair trial. Now that point will be heard by the 5th Circuit, which will decide whether a new trial is warranted. |
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