Batson v. Kentucky
Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court ruling that a prosecutor's use of a peremptory challenge in a criminal case—the dismissal of jurors without stating a valid cause for doing so—may not be used to exclude jurors based solely on their race. The Court ruled that this practice violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The case gave rise to the term Batson challenge, an objection to a peremptory challenge based on the standard established by the Supreme Court's decision in this case. Subsequent jurisprudence has resulted in the extension of Batson to civil cases (Edmonson v. Leesville Concrete Company) and cases where jurors are excluded on the basis of sex (J.E.B. v. Alabama ex rel. T.B.).
| Batson v. Kentucky | |
|---|---|
Supreme Court of the United States | |
| Argued December 12, 1985 Decided April 30, 1986 | |
| Full case name | Batson v. Kentucky |
| Citations | 476 U.S. 79 (more) 106 S. Ct. 1712; 90 L. Ed. 2d 69; 1986 U.S. LEXIS 150; 54 U.S.L.W. 4425 |
| Case history | |
| Prior | Defendant found guilty in Kentucky Circuit Court; Supreme Court of Kentucky affirmed; cert. granted, 471 U.S. 1052 (1985) |
| Subsequent | Remanded |
| Holding | |
| The principle announced in Strauder v. West Virginia is reaffirmed; prosecutors may not use race as a factor in making peremptory challenges; defendants must only make a prima facie showing on the evidence from their case to mount a challenge to race-based use of peremptories. | |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Powell, joined by Brennan, White, Marshall, Blackmun, Stevens, O'Connor |
| Concurrence | White |
| Concurrence | Marshall |
| Concurrence | Stevens, joined by Brennan |
| Concurrence | O'Connor |
| Dissent | Burger, joined by Rehnquist |
| Dissent | Rehnquist, joined by Burger |
| Laws applied | |
| U.S. Const., amend. XIV | |
This case overturned a previous ruling or rulings | |
| Swain v. Alabama (1965) | |
The principle had been established previously by several state courts, including the California Supreme Court in 1978, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in 1979, and the Florida Supreme Court in 1984.