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Simple English definitions for legal terms
comparative disparity
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A quick definition of comparative disparity:
Term: Comparative Disparity
Definition: Comparative disparity is a way to measure how much a particular group is underrepresented in a jury pool compared to their percentage in the general population. It is calculated by subtracting the group's percentage of representation on the venire from the group's percentage of the population, then dividing that percentage by the group's percentage representation in the population, and multiplying the result by 100. For example, if African-Americans make up 12% of a county's population, and 8% of the potential jurors on the venire, the comparative disparity is 33%. This is used to analyze claims that a jury was not impartial because it was not selected from a pool of jurors that fairly represented the makeup of the jurisdiction.
A more thorough explanation:
Comparative disparity is a term used in constitutional law to describe the percentage of underrepresentation of a particular group among potential jurors on a venire, in comparison with the group's percentage of the general population.
For example, if African-Americans make up 12% of a county's population, and only 8% of the potential jurors on the venire, the absolute disparity of African-Americans is 4%. And the comparative disparity is 33%, because 4 divided by 12 is .33, or 33%.
The reason for calculating the disparity is to analyze a claim that the jury was not impartial because it was not selected from a pool of jurors that fairly represented the makeup of the jurisdiction.
Some courts criticize the comparative-disparity analysis, and favor an absolute-disparity analysis, because the comparative-disparity analysis is said to exaggerate the deviation.
Overall, comparative disparity is a way to measure whether a jury selection process is fair and unbiased.