Timothy T. Foster
WASHINGTON, D.C., May 23, 2016 – In a 7-1 decision issued today, the Supreme Court of the United States held in Foster v. Chapman,
No. 14-8349, that Butts County, Georgia prosecutors violated the Equal
Protection Clause of the United States Constitution by rejecting two
prospective African-American jurors because of their race in the capital
murder trial of Timothy Foster, an African-American man who was
convicted of capital murder in 1987 by an all-white jury.
Chief Justice Roberts’ majority opinion, which was joined by five of
his colleagues, cited several pieces of evidence from the prosecutors’
files that supported the Court’s conclusion, including the first five
names of a “Definite NO” list of six prospective jurors containing the
only five African-Americans in the jury pool; multiple documents that
identified the African-American prospective jurors by their race; and
notes with “N” for “no” appearing next to the names of all the
African-American members of the jury pool. The Court also found that the
race-neutral reasons the prosecutors offered for rejecting two of the
African-American prospective jurors did not withstand scrutiny because
(1) the prosecutors offered shifting rationales at different stages of
the proceedings and (2) the reasons offered for excluding the
African-American jurors did not result in the prosecutors rejecting
white prospective jurors who had the same characteristics that led to
the dismissal of the African-American jurors. The Court dismissed one of
the prosecutors’ rationales as “[n]onsense.”
“The systematic exclusion of African-Americans from juries,
particularly in serious criminal and capital cases, is a problem that we
continue to see today,” stated Kristen Clarke, president and executive
director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. “The
Lawyers’ Committee is pleased with the Supreme Court's ruling which
affirms the longstanding, fundamental constitutional principle that
prospective jurors cannot be rejected because of their race. The
evidence in this case was overwhelming that prosecutors were determined
to try Mr. Foster, an African-American man, before an all-white jury.
All defendants are entitled to a fair trial and excluding prospective
jurors based on their race taints the process because it means that
defendants are not tried by a jury inclusive of their peers.”
The Supreme Court’s decision reversed the Georgia Supreme Court and
sent the case back to the Georgia Supreme Court for further proceedings
consistent with the opinion. Though he did not join in Chief Justice
Roberts’s opinion, Judge Alito concurred in the judgment. Justice
Thomas dissented.
About the Lawyers’ Committee
The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (Lawyers’
Committee), a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, was formed in 1963 at
the request of President John F. Kennedy to involve the private bar in
providing legal services to address racial discrimination. Formed over
50 years ago, we continue our quest of “Moving America Toward Justice.”
The principal mission of the Lawyers' Committee is to secure, through
the rule of law, equal justice under law, particularly in the areas of
fair housing and community development; employment; voting; education;
environmental justice; and criminal justice. For more information about
the Lawyers’ Committee, visit www.lawyerscommittee.org.
###
No comments:
Post a Comment