Posted: August 18, 2015
A new study of
trials in Caddo Parish, Louisiana,
revealed that potential jurors who
were black were much more likely to be
struck from juries than non-blacks.
The results were consistent with
findings from Alabama, North Carolina,
and other parts of Louisiana,
highlighting an issue that will be
reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court
this fall. In Caddo Parish, an area
known for its many death sentences,
prosecutors used peremptory strikes
against 46% of black jurors, but only
15% of other jurors, according to the
study by Reprieve Australia. The
racial composition of the juries
appeared to make a difference in the
ultimate outcome of the cases. The
study found that no defendants were
acquitted by juries with 2 or fewer
black jurors, but 19% were acquitted
when 5 or more jurors were black. In
an Alabama study, prosecutors used
peremptory strikes to remove 82% of
eligible black potential jurors from
trials in which the death penalty was
imposed. A study of death penalty
cases in North Carolina found that
prosecutors struck 53% of black
potential jurors but only 26% of
others. (Click image to enlarge.) 
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