Race and the jury system

[Eugene]

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/06/21/race_and_the_jury_system/

WEB EXCLUSIVE | DERRICK Z. JACKSON
Race and the jury system

By Derrick Z. Jackson, Globe Columnist | June 21, 2005

WRITING FOR the 6-3 majority that overturned the death penalty
conviction of Thomas Miller-El, Supreme Court Justice David Souter
wrote, "When this evidence on the issues raised is viewed
cumulatively, its direction is too powerful to conclude anything but
discrimination."

It is somewhat reassuring to know that when discrimination is too
powerful to ignore, the high court will not turn a blind eye. The
Miller-El case involved a defendant who was convicted of the 1985
robbing and killing of a clerk at a Holiday Inn. During jury
selection, prosecutors used their peremptory strikes to eliminate 10
of 11 potential African-American jurors.

EDIT

It would be even better if the nation began to challenge the criminal
justice system that betrays democracy every day. While the highest
court mercifully stopped jury shuffles and discrimination for
Miller-El, the lower courts are shuffling into jail thousands more
African-American and Latino men. Racial bias continues to riddle the
system, according to a 2005 review of 32 state and eight federal
studies by the Sentencing Project, a Washington think tank that
advocates for more constructive alternatives to incarceration.

EDIT

Rest of article: http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/06/21/race_and_the_jury_system/