...In a new study, Stevenson's group details "widespread discrimination" in the selection of jurors across the Deep South.
He says it's been illegal to exclude people from jury service on the basis of race since 1875. But prosecutors can give any reason they want for dismissing a juror, and it's rarely challenged.
Stevenson found that serious criminal cases and death penalty cases are even more prone to have discriminatory jury selection than other types of cases.
We've had African-American jurors excluded because they're too old at 43, because they're too young at 28, while other white jurors much older are being accepted, and other white jurors much younger are being accepted.
The study looked at eight states: Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi and South Carolina. In some counties, 80 percent of the African-Americans who had qualified for jury service were excluded.
"The evidence of racial bias that we focus on is evidence that's pretty obvious," said Stevenson. "It tends not to be unintentional. ... We've had African-American jurors excluded because they're too old at 43, because they're too young at 28, while other white jurors much older are being accepted, and other white jurors much younger are being accepted. ... We've had jurors excluded because they were in an interracial marriage or had a biracial son.
