Racial Jurymandering: Cancer or Cure? A Contemporary Review of Affirmative Action in Jury Selection
King, Nancy J., 1958-
:
1993
Abstract
Racial and ethnic minorities continue to be substantially underrepresented on criminal
juries. At all stages of jury selection-venue choice, source list development, qualified
list development, and jury panel and foreperson selection-traditional methods of selection
exclude a disproportionate number of minorities. In response, a growing number of jurisdictions are employing race-conscious procedures to ensure that minorities
are represented in juries and jury pools in proportions that equal or exceed their
percentages in local communities. At the same time, the Supreme Court's most recent
pronouncements on affirmative action and standing suggest that these reforms may be
short-lived. Professor King suggests that the Court's current strict scrutiny standard
can and should accommodate limited uses of racial classifications in jury selection.
Specifically, Professor King contends that racially representative juries are essential to
the appearance of fairness in criminal jury proceedings, and that maximizing the appearance of legitimacy is a compelling governmental interest She claims that not all
types of jurymandering further this interest, however, and proposes several features
with which to distinguish measures which are likely to improve public confidence in the
impartiality of the system from measures that are not likely to have this effect.