A Jury Of Whose Peers? The Impact Of Selection Procedures On Racial Composition And The Prevalence Of Majority-White Juries

Keywords

Jury selection; minority jurors; peremptory strikes; racial composition; racial discrimination

Abstract

Racially mixed criminal juries deliberate better and are viewed by the public as more legitimate than all-white and mostly-white juries. The constitution forbids racial discrimination in jury selection, and courts favor racially heterogeneous jury venires. Despite this, racial minorities continue to be under-represented on criminal juries. Limited information exists about the specific sources of these disparities and the frequency of all-white and mostly-white juries. This study compares the racial diversity of venires to that of panels, and both to the general population, to identify the steps in the jury-selection process that appear to be most strongly implicated in the loss of minorities. Additionally, the present analyses examine the for-cause and peremptory-challenge removals of jurors of different races. Finally, this study investigates the prevalence of all-white and mostly-white juries. The results have implications for enhancing the representation of minorities on both venires and panels.

Publication Date

1-2-2016

Publication Title

Journal of Crime and Justice

Volume

39

Issue

1

Number of Pages

75-87

Document Type

Article

Personal Identifier

scopus

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.1080/0735648X.2015.1087149

Socpus ID

84959457629 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/84959457629

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