Sentences with phrase «black jurors»

The selection practice in question wasn't designed to exclude black jurors.

Cassandra Stubbs (Director of the ACLU Capital Punishment Project): «The prosecutor's time after time after time was choosing white jurors and striking black jurors of color courts were routinely saying there was not proof enough of discrimination.»

During contentious deliberations, the trial judge in U.S. v. Thomas dismissed Juror Number 5 — the only black juror in a trial of all black defendants — based on the belief that Juror Number 5 was engaging in jury nullification and would not convict the defendants under any circumstances.

[p97] For example, a «pattern» of strikes against black jurors included in the particular venire might give rise to an inference of discrimination.

United States v. Newman, 549 F. 2d 240 (CA2 1977), the Equal Protection Clause forbids the prosecutor to challenge potential jurors solely on account of their race or on the assumption that black jurors as a group will be unable impartially to consider the State's case against a black defendant.

Then there were the (white) prosecutors zealously pushing (usually white - dominated) juries to bring back a death sentence; in William Hance's case, this resulted in 11 white jurors - one of whom asserted that the «nigger admitted he did it, [so] he should fry» — mercilessly harassing the sole black juror until she retreated into silent acquiescence.

Many criminal defense lawyers, she says, «maintain that the prosecution practice of using peremptory strikes to remove black jurors remains widespread.»

Once the defendant makes a prima facie showing, the burden shifts to the State to come forward with a neutral explanation for challenging black jurors.

We have confidence that trial judges, experienced in supervising voir dire, will be able to decide if the circumstances concerning the prosecutor's use of peremptory challenges creates a prima facie case of discrimination against black jurors.

Although a prosecutor ordinarily is entitled to exercise [p80] peremptory challenges for any reason, as long as that reason is related to his view concerning the outcome of the case to be tried, the Equal Protection Clause forbids the prosecutor to challenge potential jurors solely on account of their race or on the assumption that black jurors as a group will be unable impartially to consider the State's case against a black defendant.

These improvements did not necessarily happen because the black jurors brought new information to the group — they happened because white jurors changed their behavior in the presence of the black jurors.

Sommers composed the six - person juries with either all white jurors or four white and two black jurors.

This week the United States Supreme Court accepted for consideration the case of Foster v. Humphrey, regarding Georgia prosecutors» use of peremptory challenges to strike every black juror in the jury pool in the defendant's case.

[*] This should have warned prosecutors that using peremptories to exclude blacks on the assumption that no black juror could fairly judge a black defendant would violate the Equal Protection Clause.

The standard we adopt under the Federal Constitution is designed to ensure that a State does not use peremptory challenges to strike any black juror because of his race.

The reality of practice, amply reflected in many state and federal court opinions, shows that the challenge may be, and unfortunately at times has been, used to discriminate against black jurors.

the Equal Protection Clause forbids the prosecutor to challenge potential jurors solely... on the assumption that black jurors as a group will be unable impartially to consider the State's case against a black defendant.