An Unbroken Thread: African American Exclusion from Jury Service, Past and Present

AuthorAlexis Hoag
PositionAssociate Research Scholar and Lecturer at Columbia Law School
Pages56-81
Louisiana Law Review Louisiana Law Review
Volume 81
Number 1
Fall 2020
Article 7
12-11-2020
An Unbroken Thread: African American Exclusion from Jury An Unbroken Thread: African American Exclusion from Jury
Service, Past and Present Service, Past and Present
Alexis Hoag
Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.law.lsu.edu/lalrev
Repository Citation Repository Citation
Alexis Hoag,
An Unbroken Thread: African American Exclusion from Jury Service, Past and Present
, 81 La.
L. Rev. (2020)
Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.lsu.edu/lalrev/vol81/iss1/7
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Reviews and Journals at LSU Law Digital
Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Louisiana Law Review by an authorized editor of LSU Law Digital
Commons. For more information, please contact kreed25@lsu.edu.
348056-LSU_81-1_Text.indd 59348056-LSU_81-1_Text.indd 59 12/2/20 7:03 AM12/2/20 7:03 AM
An Unbroken Thread: African American Exclusion
from Jury Service, Past and Present
Alexis Hoag*
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction.................................................................................... 56
I. African American Exclusion.......................................................... 57
A. De Jure Exclusion.................................................................... 58
B. De Facto Exclusion.................................................................. 62
II. First Wave of Legal and Statutory Solutions ................................. 66
A. The Constitutional Right to a Fair Cross Section .................... 67
1. Distinctive Group.............................................................. 68
2. Relative Underrepresentation............................................ 68
3. Systemic Exclusion ........................................................... 71
B. The Jury Selection and Service Act of 1968............................ 72
III. Good Moral Character in the Modern Age .................................... 73
IV. Remedies........................................................................................ 75
A. Jury Source Lists...................................................................... 76
B. Focusing on Prong Three of Duren ......................................... 77
C. Clear Path to Re-Enfranchisement: Eliminate
Felony Conviction Disenfranchisement................................... 78
Conclusion...................................................................................... 79
Copyright 2020, by ALEXIS HOAG.
* Associate Research Scholar and Lecturer at Columbia Law School. I
would like to thank Daniel Harawa, Paula Hannaford-Agor, and Paul Finkelman
for their helpful feedback at the Louisiana Law Review’s annual symposium; the
brilliant women of Lutie on the Hudson, especially Deborah Archer, for their
community, support, and accountability; Claudia Kassner, for her stellar resear ch
assistance; Bernard Harcourt and our students in Columbia Law School’s
Abolition: A Social Justice Practicum, particularly Rosalyn Huff, for their
expertise and inspiration; and the capable and gracious staff of the Louisiana Law
Review, especially Addison Hollis. Any mistakes are my own.

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