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Simple English definitions for legal terms
Duren test
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A quick definition of Duren test:
The Duren test is a way to check if a jury is made up of a fair and impartial group of people. It is important because everyone has the right to a fair trial. The test looks at whether a certain group of people is not represented enough in the jury pool compared to how many of them live in the community. If this is the case, and the group is being left out on purpose, then it is not fair. The government must have a good reason for this difference, or it is against the law.
A more thorough explanation:
The Duren test is a legal test used to determine if a jury's composition violates a criminal defendant's Sixth Amendment right to an impartial jury and the fair-cross-section requirement.
The test has three parts:
- A distinctive group is not fairly and reasonably represented in the jury pool in relation to its population in the community.
- The underrepresentation is the result of a systematic exclusion of the group from the jury-selection process.
- The government cannot reasonably justify the discrepancy.
An example of the Duren test in action would be if a criminal defendant argued that the jury pool did not include enough people from their racial or ethnic group. If the defendant could prove that their group was underrepresented in the pool and that this was due to a systematic exclusion, then the court would use the Duren test to determine if there was a constitutional violation.