Lockhart v. McCree - Significance, The Lower Courts Rule, The Majority's Argument, The Dissent, Related Cases

Lockhart v. McCree - Significance

The Supreme Court held that a court's decision to remove potential jurors before a trial because they state their opposition to the death penalty does not violate the requirement that juries represent a fair cross section of the community. Ardia V. McCree was on trial for murder in Arkansas. He faced a capital charge, meaning he would be executed if convicted. Before the trial started, the judge r…

Lockhart v. McCree - The Lower Courts Rule

Lockhart v. McCree - The Majority's Argument

The majority rejected McCree's claim that the "death qualification" results in impartial juries, pointing to flaws in the evidence used by the lower courts to assert the opposite. The majority went on to point out that the same jury would have been chosen even had no "death qualifying" questions been asked of them. Besides, both parties in the case had conceded that the individual jurors in this c…

Lockhart v. McCree - The Dissent

Three justices disagreed with the Court's ruling. Justice Marshall wrote the dissent, joined by Justice Brennan and Justice Stevens. In their opinion, the exclusion of death penalty opponents from a jury gave the prosecution an unfair advantage in the trial. They agreed with the lower courts' determination that juries which have been "death qualified" are more likely to convict. The dissenters rai…

Lockhart v. McCree - Related Cases