The Washington Post has an interesting article about a recent split decision by a Wisconsin appellate court. In Wisconsin v. Sanders the court had to determine whether the prosecutor violated Batson when she removed the only two prospective Black jurors during voir dire. The basis for the removal, as articulated by the prosecutor, was that the jurors had had prior bad experiences with law enforcement. In a 2-1 decision, the majority found that
“[b]ias against law enforcement and/or the criminal justice system more generally is a legitimate and very understandable reason for the State, when given the opportunity, to strike a potential juror.”
In contrast, the dissent found that
“[t]he ‘race-neutral’ reason offered by the prosecutor is per se discriminatory...[o]ur history of racism against blacks and our recent judicial sanctioning of racial profiling has infected our justice system with a cancer that is now metastasizing into the constitutional right of the jury."
Go here for the article and here for the opinion.
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