Batson legacy

Batson Legacy

• No purposeful (intentional) discrimination based on sex or ethnicity by prosecutor.

Reverse Batson Challenge

• Defense attorney's race-based peremptory challenges addressed in Georgia v. McCollum (1992).

New Scrutiny of Batson Challenges

• Foster v. Chatman (2016):

  • Case involved malice murder & burglary trial (1987-8).

  • Jury pool (Venire): 90 total, with 5 black jurors.

  • Reduced prospective jurors (post-for cause challenges) to 42, with 4 black jurors remaining.

Peremptory Challenge Process

• Prosecutor: 10 peremptory challenges; Defense: 20 peremptory challenges.

• Prosecutor strikes first.

Defense's Batson Challenge

• Prosecutor struck 4 black jurors via peremptory challenges.

• Trial judge accepted race-neutral justification; conviction upheld.

• Appeal based on Batson analysis presented to Georgia Supreme Court.

• Access requested to jury selection documents from the criminal trial.

• Georgia Supreme Court denied the appeal.

Jury Selection Documents (Venire Lists)

• Investigated whether strategies were race-motivated or race-neutral.

  • Names of black prospective jurors highlighted in green.

  • Letter "B" marked next to names of black prospective jurors.

  • Designation of black prospective jurors with notations like "B#1", "B#2", etc.

  • Race circled on the questionnaire of black prospective jurors.

US Supreme Court Analysis (Roberts)

• Prosecutor's argument emphasized race-neutral decision-making:

  • Included considerations of religious affiliation and opposition to the death penalty.