Jury Selection
In communities across America, racial minorities are significantly underrepresented on criminal trial juries as a result of jury selection procedures that are racially biased and discriminatory. Although federal law prohibits excluding minorities from jury service, the law is difficult to enforce and leaves much to be done to confront this problem.
Diverse and representative juries that include racial minorities are critical to ensure fair criminal trials. The absence of diverse juries in criminal cases has serious consequences for the poor and people of color who must frequently overcome presumptions of guilt in communities where African Americans, Latinos, and other racial minorities are disfavored, stereotyped, and often demonized. Young black men are especially vulnerable to negative stereotypes that undermine their right to a fair trial.
EJI has challenged racial bias in jury selection through individual cases and class-action lawsuits. In Alabama, two dozen death penalty cases have been reversed after illegal racial discrimination in jury service was proved.
News
EJI Wins New Trial for Mother Illegally Sentenced to Life Without Parole
September 8, 2009On September 4, 2009, the Alabama Supreme Court reversed the conviction and sentence imposed on Marsha Colby, who was convicted of capital murder after giving birth to what doctors believe was a stillborn baby.
EJI Wins Relief for Earl McGahee: Eleventh Circuit Holds Prosecutor Illegally Discriminated Against Jurors on Basis of Race
March 5, 2009EJI client Earl McGahee, who is African American, was tried by an all-white jury in a county where the African American population was over 55%. The prosecutor excluded all of the African Americans from jury service based on their race and what he characterized as their "low intelligence." After two decades spent challenging the race discrimination in this case, EJI won relief for Mr. McGahee yesterday when the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed his capital murder conviction because the prosecutor engaged in illegal racial discrimination during jury selection.
EJI Launches Project to Challenge Racial Bias in Jury Selection
September 13, 2007The Equal Justice Initiative has recently undertaken a major effort to challenge racial bias in jury selection throughout the United States. In communities across America, racial minorities are significantly underrepresented on criminal trial juries as a result of jury selection procedures that are racially biased and discriminatory. Although federal law in this area is well-established, because of the inherently difficult task of proving exclusion of racial minorities from jury service, there is still much progress to be made in this area.