Jury Trial Essay

The criminal justice system faces multiple accusations for not standing up to the “innocent until proven guilty” standards. While the legal system has fought to keep this statement true, the challenges still exist. One of these is a proper trial that is both unbiased and without error. The setting for a proper trial includes an impartial jury selection to follow the proper procedures of the courtroom. Selection of the jury is an important task and serving on a jury is considered by the United States as the civic duty of the community. The jury selection process is very important because of the specific allowances, which are given to each courtroom. One of the permissions is the right of peremptory challenges, which allows defense attorneys

Furthermore, if a defendant could provide a “prima facie” case, the ruling could be altered. Prima facie means that if a defendant could present a case of factual evidence to prove a pattern of discrimination in the jurisdiction, then the case can be presented to the court. Swain’s case is important because it presented a significant argument against the use of peremptory challenges. The ruling however, provided not protection for Hispanics or African Americans from racially provoked peremptory challenges. The use of these challenges denies African American’s and Hispanics the chance to be tried by an impartial jury of their peers. However, unless an individual could access the sealed records of peremptory strikes, a defendant’s ability to begin an appeals case proving racial discrimination was difficult to impossible. Until the case of Batson v. Kentucky, twenty one years after Swain v. Alabama, the ability to present a case of racial discrimination was nearly impossible. Baston v. Kentucky established that a defendant may try to create a prima facie caseand the state holds the burden to find the racial neutral evidence to explain whether the peremptory challenge was used properly. This right to challenge also stands if a white defendant believes minorities have been purposefully removed from their