Batson and the straight-face test; courts split on gender-based jury picks, permissible stereotyping

Article Abstract:

The US Supreme Court ruled in the 1986 case Batson v Kentucky that peremptory challenges excluding jurors because of race are unconstitutional, and Justice Byron White's prediction that much further litigation would result has come true. The Court has had to rule almost yearly on the scope of Batson, with three of these decisions coming during the 1991 term. It is still not clear whether Batson pertains to sex discrimination. A Ninth Circuit case involved disqualifying jurors because of group stereotypes.

Social aspects, Discrimination in criminal justice administration, Criminal justice discrimination, Jury selection

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Old evidence, new trial; acquittal for Rosenbergs in mock ABA trial spawns controversy

Article Abstract:

A mock reprise of the 1951 trial which found Ethel and Julius Rosenberg guilty of espionage was staged by the ABA Section of Litigation at the 1993 annual meeting. The 1993 verdict was not guilty. Some viewed the re-enactment as a distortion of history, while others said this outcome would have been possible in 1951 had the Rosenbergs had better defense counsel and had key evidence not been suppressed. The re-enactment employed contemporary rules of evidence and civil procedure.

Conferences, meetings and seminars, A.B.A. Section of Litigation, Rosenberg, Ethel, Rosenberg, Julius

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