Batson v. Kentucky

Peremptory-challenge rules often resulted in all-white juries in criminal cases for African American defendants, on the assumption that an African American might not vote to convict another African American. In a more extreme case, it was used to exclude African American jurors from the trial of a member of the Ku Klux Klan charged with the murder of an African American. One significant Supreme Court ruling upholding the peremptory challenge came in 1965 in Swain v. Alabama, which asserted that a very obvious pattern of bias on the part of the prosecutor--that he had a long history of keeping African Americans off juries--had to be proven in court. This had occurred only twice since 1965; five states then passed legislation amending their state constitution to overrule Swain. Peremptory challenges were still common, however, primarily because they were seen as assuring that an unbiased and qualified jury was selected from the pool. Likewise, a lawyer for an African American defendant would be allowed to dismiss white jurors.

Batson's attorneys filed a motion to dismiss the jury on the grounds that an all-white jury violated Batson's Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment rights to a fair trial, but the judge denied the motion. He was convicted, and his lawyers appealed. Kentucky's State Supreme Court upheld the lower court's decision. The NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund became involved, and arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court began in December of 1985. On 30 April 1986, the Court announced its decision in favor of James Batson.