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 removed from the pool of potential jurors all those who stated that they could not under any circumstance vote to impose the death penalty. The jury that did see the trial voted to convict McCree and sentenced him to life in prison without parole. McCree appealed the conviction in a state appeals court, but his appeal was denied.

McCree then took his case to federal district court. He claimed that the "death qualification" imposed on the jurors had resulted in an impartial jury, thus denying him his right to a fair trial under the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. These amendments state that a jury must be composed of a fair representation of the community.