Legal Definitions - Batson challenge

A Batson challenge is a formal objection raised during jury selection in a trial. It occurs when one party believes that the opposing side has used a "peremptory challenge" to remove a potential juror for an unconstitutional reason, specifically because of that person's race, ethnicity, or sex.

During jury selection, attorneys can remove potential jurors in two ways: "for cause" (meaning there's a specific, valid reason like bias) or "peremptorily" (meaning they don't need to state a reason, but they have a limited number of these). The Batson challenge ensures that even peremptory challenges, which seem unrestricted, cannot be used to discriminate. If a judge agrees that a Batson challenge is valid, the attorney who made the discriminatory strike must provide a neutral, non-discriminatory reason for removing the juror. This legal principle originated from the U.S. Supreme Court case Batson v. Kentucky (1986).

Here are some examples of when a Batson challenge might be raised:

• Example 1 (Criminal Case - Prosecution): In a criminal trial for a defendant of Asian descent, the prosecutor uses several peremptory challenges to remove all potential jurors who appear to be of Asian heritage, even though they expressed no bias during questioning. The defense attorney could then raise a Batson challenge, arguing that the prosecutor is systematically excluding jurors based on race. The judge would then require the prosecutor to provide a race-neutral explanation for each strike.

• Example 2 (Civil Case - Defense): During jury selection for a civil lawsuit alleging workplace sexual harassment, the defense attorney uses all of their peremptory challenges to remove the only four women from the jury pool. The plaintiff's attorney could initiate a Batson challenge, asserting that the defense is attempting to exclude jurors based on sex, which is prohibited. The defense would then need to offer a legitimate, non-gender-based reason for each removal.

• Example 3 (Criminal Case - Defense): In a high-profile robbery trial, the defense attorney uses peremptory challenges to strike several potential jurors who identify as Hispanic, despite their varied backgrounds and responses during the voir dire (jury questioning) process. The prosecutor could then make a Batson challenge, arguing that the defense's pattern of strikes suggests an intent to exclude jurors based on ethnicity, which is unconstitutional. The defense would then be required to articulate a non-discriminatory reason for each challenged strike.