Section 21.24 Batson v. Kentucky Historical Perspective

• Library: Criminal Practice 2012 Supp

a. (§21.24) Batson v. Kentucky Historical Perspective

Exclusion of members of a defendant’s race from the grand or petit jury on the basis of race is a denial of equal protection. Strauder v. W. Va., 100 U.S. 303 (1879). In Swain v. Alabama, 380 U.S. 202 (1965), the Court held that the prosecutor violates equal protection by using peremptory challenges to exclude African-Americans. But in so holding, the Court imposed on the defendants a crippling burden of proof. To obtain relief under Swain, a defendant had to show that in case after case, no matter what the circumstances, the...