Roman v. Abrams

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

BRIEANT, District Judge.

On December 4th of last year, breaking with long standing precedent, the Second Circuit, in McCray v. Abrams, 750 F.2d 1113 (2d Cir.1984), rehearing en banc den., 756. F.2d 277 (2d Cir.1985), petition for cert. filed, 756 F.2d 277, “spell[ed] the end of the peremptory challenge as an effective jury selection tool,” in state criminal trials (Meskill, J., dissenting). The Court held that: “[T]he Sixth Amendment’s guarantee of trial by an impartial jury ... forbids the exercise of [peremptory] challenges to excuse jurors solely on the basis of their…