Public Safety Depends On Juries Chosen Without Racial Discrimination

Partner David Ogden authored a March 14, 2019 commentary, published in the National Law Journal, on why the US Supreme Court should uphold the principle of race-neutral jury selection when it decides Flowers v. Mississippi, a decision that is expected by the end of the Court's current term in June.

Mr. Ogden explained in his essay how a Mississippi prosecutor who tried Curtis Flowers—an African American—six times for murder systematically struck black citizens from jury pools in violation of the Court's 1986 Batson v. Kentucky decision. The Supreme Court of Mississippi upheld the prosecutor's actions.

Besides arguing that the constitutional right to a fair trial is subverted by racial discrimination in jury selection, Mr. Ogden asserted that public safety ultimately erodes when such prosecutorial behavior is allowed, causing weaker public support for law enforcement.