Race and Minorities in the Jury Box Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Race and Minorities in the Jury Box - Assignment Example The selection is most difficult when it is a high-profile case and everyone has heard of the defendant. Introduction In 2006, it was estimated through the United States Bureau of Justice statistics, that over 1.1 million adults were convicted of felonies and, of this amount, 38% were Black. Most of these cases were handled in state courts and, those who had been arrested and remained in jail, had their cases handled more quickly than others did. Mainly this was due to the fact that most could not hire a lawyer or post bail (Gabbidon & Greene, 2013). There are several processes in how cases move forward to a trial, but once it does, and the case requires a jury, then there will be a session where members of the public are requested to appear for potential selection to act as a juror in the case. This paper concerns the process of jury selection and how it can be biased by race and minority composition, or lack of it (Gabbidon & Greene, 2013). When it comes to jury selection, there has been considerable discourse about the makeup of jurors and whether jurors should be the same race as the defendant, or not the same race as the defendant, or a mixture (AP, 2008). 1.When determining suitable jurors for a trial, it is never made publicly clear why lawyers might choose one juror over another. However, some policymakers and legal scholars have now proposed reforms to ensure that there is sufficient variety of racial minorities on any given jury. While the Civil Rights Act of 1875 was created to eliminate racial discrimination in jury selection, yet it still does exist, and it happens more often in Southern states (EJI, 2010). Some counties have excluded almost 80% of qualified Blacks in selecting juries in counties that have a majority population of Blacks, citing obscure reasons such as being single, married, too old, too young, for having attended black colleges, or not having attended college, having an out-of-wedlock child, and even for how they walk (EJI, 2010). It can also be a case of religious views or tendencies to not want to send someone to jail (AP, 2008). How this detailed information was obtained is unclear unless it was through interviews or surveys with lawyers. In justifying reforms for the composition of a jury, the primary factor that should hold sway is that any prospective juror must demonstrate an understanding of the legal process, and a willingness to not be biased. 2. The jury composition should be made of all races, not just all White or all Black, or all Hispanic (EJI, 2010). Lawyers should make a reasonable attempt at including all races and minorities, when possible.