Showing posts with label Batson Hearings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Batson Hearings. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Wholly Racial Questioning, Batson!

Do this: open another tab, and play this clip in the background before reading.

Did you do that?

Alright, on to the main show.

What happens when you strike jurors on the basis of race? Batson hearings, that's what! Well, what happens when, according to the Las Vegas Sun, "the prosecution ask[s a] black juror if he would feel ridicule from the black community if he voted to put [the defendant] to death . . . and the juror did not take offense to the question?" Further, what happens when the appellate prosecutor claims that "the juror had 14 relatives of which only three were not in prison and the juror also had a personal relationship with the defense lawyer?" Even more, according to the prosecutor, the juror was also excluded for other reasons. There's a (compound) question the Nevada Supreme Court will have to decide.