Racism in Jury Selection Before Supreme Court

The Supreme Court this week is considering whether race was central to selecting the all-white jury that voted to put a black man to death. After nearly 20 years, lawyers representing Timothy Tyrone Foster finally got hold of prosecutors’ jury-selection notes from the 1987 trial, which show that race was central to their decision to exclude jurors. In the notes, each black potential juror’s name is highlighted in green and marked, “B.” In a separate list, those jurors are ranked against each other, “in case it comes down to having to pick one of the black jurors.” Foster’s lawyers claim the practice of peremptory challenges in jury selection has been abused to stack juries against their client, and other defendants of color.