Iowa judge dismisses entire jury pool in murder trial of black man because 111 of the 112 people are white
Bold text added by me.
So, did this judge have a point? Did this defense attorney have a point?
Should defendants have the right to request a jury of their same racial group? Could this be considered a valid implication of "a jury of your peers"?
Does the current racial climate of the nation impact the validity of this request on the part of a defense attorney? If you don't think so, could your answer change if racial tensions increased dramatically?
Would you view it differently for a black defendant to request a jury comprised mostly or entirely of blacks (or even express any preference whatsoever about its racial composition) than you would view it if it were a white defendant asking for a whiter jury?
Do you think the statistic the defense attorney in this story mentioned, about convictions dropping by 10%, is due to nonwhites being more fair and having more empathy and insight into the lives of minority criminals, or do you think it could just be socially corrosive sympathy toward criminals as a byproduct of racial solidarity?
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"An Iowa judge has dismissed a 112-member jury pool after determining that a black man charged with murder couldn’t get a fair trial when all but one potential juror is white. Tyrone Washington Jr., 41, of Northwood is accused in the August 2013 stabbing death of his ex-girlfriend, 30-year-old Justina Smith, the Globe Gazette reported. Defense attorney Charles Kenville requested to have the entire jury pool stricken, and District Judge Colleen Weiland on Tuesday granted his motion. Out of the 112 people in the jury pool, 111 had identified themselves as white. One juror identified himself as Native American. Kenville said the lack of racial diversity wasn’t intentional but that ‘the system is broken in Webster County and this court needs to fix it for Mr. Washington’s rights to be upheld.’ He called for a change in the computerized systems by which citizens are requested for jury service using Iowa Department of Motor Vehicles and voter registration records. Kenville said minority conviction rates decrease by 10 percent if a minority is a member of the jury panel." |
So, did this judge have a point? Did this defense attorney have a point?
Should defendants have the right to request a jury of their same racial group? Could this be considered a valid implication of "a jury of your peers"?
Does the current racial climate of the nation impact the validity of this request on the part of a defense attorney? If you don't think so, could your answer change if racial tensions increased dramatically?
Would you view it differently for a black defendant to request a jury comprised mostly or entirely of blacks (or even express any preference whatsoever about its racial composition) than you would view it if it were a white defendant asking for a whiter jury?
Do you think the statistic the defense attorney in this story mentioned, about convictions dropping by 10%, is due to nonwhites being more fair and having more empathy and insight into the lives of minority criminals, or do you think it could just be socially corrosive sympathy toward criminals as a byproduct of racial solidarity?
via International Skeptics Forum http://ift.tt/1HnUzTq
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