National Public Defense Virtual Conference 2021

Prosecutors continue to strike people of color in jury selection, resulting in all-white juries even in jurisdictions with diverse populations that include many people of color. Prosecutors give trivial reasons for their strikes, often reading them off lists of “approved race-neutral reasons.” Judges routinely approve the reasons. There is a growing recognition that Batson has completely failed to prevent discrimination. Some states have adopted other approaches to prevent discrimination. This session will examine the challenges to litigating Batson claims, suggest ways to improve the likelihood of prevailing on a Batson objection, and explore what other jurisdictions are doing to prevent discrimination.