Course: Procedural Law
Batson v. Kentucky was a 1986 landmark US Supreme Court case that ruled against racial discrimination in jury selection, establishing the Batson test.
Batson v. Kentucky was a landmark case that was decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1986. This case addressed the issue of racial discrimination in jury selection, and its outcome had significant implications for the American criminal justice system.
The case involved a black man, James Batson, who was convicted of burglary in Kentucky in 1983. During jury selection, the prosecutor used his peremptory challenges to strike all four potential black jurors from the jury pool. Batson’s defense counsel objected to this, arguing that the prosecutor’s actions violated Batson’s constitutional rights to equal protection under the law.
The trial judge denied the defense counsel’s objection and allowed the prosecutor to strike the potential black jurors. Batson was subsequently convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Batson’s case was taken up by the Kentucky Supreme Court, which upheld his conviction. However, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear Batson’s appeal in 1986.
In its landmark decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the prosecutor’s use of peremptory challenges to strike potential jurors on the basis of race violated Batson’s constitutional rights. The Court held that the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits the exclusion of jurors based on their race.
The Court established a new legal standard for evaluating claims of racial discrimination in jury selection, known as the Batson test. Under this test, a defendant must first make a prima facie showing that the prosecutor exercised peremptory challenges to exclude potential jurors based on their race. If the defendant can make such a showing, the burden shifts to the prosecutor to offer a race-neutral explanation for the peremptory challenge.
The Batson test is applied in three steps: (1) the defendant must make a prima facie showing that the prosecutor exercised peremptory challenges to exclude potential jurors based on their race; (2) if a prima facie showing is made, the burden shifts to the prosecutor to offer a race-neutral explanation for the peremptory challenge; and (3) the trial court must determine whether the defendant has established purposeful discrimination based on the totality of the circumstances.
The Batson decision had significant implications for the American criminal justice system, as it served as a powerful tool for combating racial discrimination in jury selection. It also paved the way for further legal challenges to discrimination in other aspects of the criminal justice system.
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Last Modified: 05/05/2023