United States v. Jerry Dejesus

OPINION OF THE COURT

FUENTES, Circuit Judge.

The primary issue in this appeal is whether the government violated the Equal Protection Clause when it peremptorily struck two African American, pre*502sumably Christian, jurors from the venire. The District Court held that race was not a factor in the strikes and that the government’s religion-related reasons for the strikes were permissible. Because we are satisfied that the government’s peremptory strikes in this case were based on the jurors’ heightened religious involvement rather than a specific religious affiliation, and because they were not…