Batson v. Kentucky

476 U.S. 79 (1986)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

The prosecutor used his peremptory challenges to strike all four black persons on the venire, and a jury composed only of white persons was selected. D moved to discharge the jury before it was sworn on the ground that Kentucky's (P) removal of the black veniremen violated D's rights under the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to a jury drawn from a cross-section of the community, and under the Fourteenth Amendment to equal protection of the laws. That motion was denied. D was convicted on both counts. The Supreme Court of Kentucky affirmed. It held that a defendant alleging lack of a fair cross-section must demonstrate systematic exclusion of a group of jurors from the venire. The Supreme Court granted certiorari.