SCOTUS Sends Strong Statement Against Racial Bias in Jury Selection in Truck Wreck Cases

Jury selection and fair and impartial jurors in Truck Wreck Cases is important, a biased juror can undo years of work for your truck wreck case.

In a 7-1 decision penned by Chief Justice John Roberts, the Supreme Court of the United States unequivocally re-affirmed the Constitution’s prohibition against racial bias in an American court of law. The decision in Foster v. Chatman, handed down on May 23, 2016, is good news for truck wreck victims. Only the late Justice Scalia’s voting shadow Justice Thomas dissented. Real truck wreck lawyers feared existing racial selection or de-selection rules in jury trial Batson motions only allowed insurers and trucking companies to make up excuses when they remove minorities from juries—the good ole days for insurers and defense lawyers.

The Supreme Court strongly criticized the use of B and N—presumably No—to identify African American jurors on the prosecution’s jury selection notes, discovered after a man was sentenced to death for a crime he admittedly committed.

The US Supreme Court identified the sheer number of references to race in the prosecutor’s file disturbing, and the excuses for removing black jurors from the actual jury selected for the case “reeked of after-thought.”

Assuring a plaintiff in a commercial motor vehicle case a right to a fair and impartial jury, selected without a racially discriminatory intent is critical to our justice system. In truck wreck cases you have to know not only the rules of the road, but the rules of the Courtroom. At Terry Jackson, P.C. we have the experience to identify those race excuses in removing jurors at trial, and protect your truck wreck case at trial—where it really matters for you. We know truck wrecks and trials.