California Supreme Court Asked Decide if CA Jury Law Discriminates Against Minorities
Friday, April 22, 2005 at 05:45PM
TheSpook
The US Supreme Court heard arguments
Monday over whether a California jury selection law discriminates
against minority defendants. The case involves Jay Shawn Johnson, a
black man who was convicted in 1998 of killing his girlfriend's
18-month-old child. Johnson's attorneys argued that the conviction was
invalid because prosecutors used "peremptory challenges" to exclude the
only three black potential jurors from the case. Under California law,
such challenges by either side do not need to be explained except when
the judge believes there is a "strong likelihood" of racial bias.
Johnson's supporters claim that California's law sets the standard too
high and violates a 1986 Supreme Court ruling that prohibits attorneys
from using race, religion, or gender as the reason for peremptory
challenges. Charles Hobson, an attorney for the Criminal Justice Legal
Foundation, told the Los Angeles Times that the decision could affect
thousands of criminal defendants who claim that their juries were
chosen based on racial prejudice. A decision in Johnson v. California
is expected in June. [more]
Article originally appeared on (http://brownwatch.com/).
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