Racial Profiling In Jury Selection

On November 2, 2015, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of Foster vs Chatman.  The case is looking at racial profiling in selecting criminal trial juries.  I would imagine it would be fair to say that both prosecutors and defense attorneys use racial profiling when selecting a jury.  Should an attorney be allowed to remove someone from a jury (peremptory challenge) because of race?  Do we want to use race to decide who is seated on a jury? I think not.  I just want quality impartial people on juries.  I believe race should not play a part.  We’ll see where and how the Supreme Court rules and what guidance they offer.   Looking at Lady Justice you notice she is blindfolded.  Why not use that symbol to inform jury selection.  Let’s “blindfold” the lawyers when they ask their questions to individual jurors during jury selection.  Put the jurors in another room and the lawyers can ask questions via voice alone.  The lawyers would never get to see the jurors.  So that one could not profile from the sound of voice either, a stenographer could type the answers.   The lawyers would only see the juror’s response to their question never hearing their voice; much can be profiled from grammar patters, dialect and language used.  What would Lady Justice think of this idea?  In a few months we’ll know what the Supreme Court decides.