Title
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
Copyright Status
Unknown
Socpus ID
84959457629 (Scopus)
Source API URL
https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/84959457629
STARS Citation
Gau, Jacinta M., "A Jury Of Whose Peers? The Impact Of Selection Procedures On Racial Composition And The Prevalence Of Majority-White Juries" (2016). Scopus Export 2015-2019. 3582.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/scopus2015/3582