US EditionSupreme Court will hear appeal of Black death row inmate over racial bias in Mississippi jury makeup
The Supreme Court will consider if Mississippi courts erred in dismissing claims that prosecutors excluded Black jurors, a key issue in death penalty fairness.
- The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the appeal of Terry Pitchford, a Black death row inmate from Mississippi whose case involves a prosecutor accused of dismissing Black jurors.
- U.S. District Judge Michael P. Mills wrote that the trial judge curtailed Batson arguments by denying Pitchford's lawyer adequate chance to press claims, citing the prosecutor's prior conduct under Batson v. Kentucky.
- Judges and lawyers reduced the original jury pool of 36 white and five Black members to 36 white and five Black, then prosecutors struck four Black jurors, leaving one Black person on the final jury.
- The justices took the case involving former District Attorney Doug Evans, who was central to the Supreme Court decision overturning Curtis Flowers' conviction after six trials for four killings.
- Scheduled for argument in the spring, the review engages Batson v. Kentucky , the Supreme Court's framework to prevent race‑based juror exclusions.
39 Articles
39 Articles
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Court to hear case on racial discrimination in jury selection
The Supreme Court on Monday morning agreed to take up the case of a Mississippi man who contends that he was sentenced to death in violation of the Constitution’s ban on racial discrimination in jury selection. Pitchford v. Cain is the only case from the justices’ Dec. 12 conference in which they’ve granted review so far. The court did not act on several high-profile petitions that it considered last Friday, including challenges to state laws ba…
Associated Press News
Supreme Court will hear appeal of Black death row inmate over racial bias in Mississippi jury makeup
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the appeal of a Black death row inmate from Mississippi whose case was handled by a prosecutor with a history of dismissing Black jurors for discriminatory reasons.
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