A total of 24 White persons and six Black persons are called for jury duty.The trial is for armed robbery, the defendant is Black, and the prosecuting attorney uses peremptory challenges given to him to exclude the six Black people.What should the judge do, according to recent Supreme Court decisions?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Recent Supreme Court decisions have established that if there is evidence of racial discrimination in the use of peremptory challenges, the judge must ask the attorney to provide race-neutral reasons for the dismissals. The judge must then determine if the reasons given were genuine or a pretext for racial discrimination. Option A is not necessarily the best choice as a mistrial may be expensive and time-consuming. Option B is not appropriate as giving extra peremptory challenges to one side may lead to an unfair advantage. Option D is also not ideal as the opposing attorney may not have sufficient evidence to challenge the exclusions.

A Total of 24 White Persons and Six Black Persons