State v. Meredith

¶1 The equal protection clause of the federal constitution prohibits racial discrimination during the jury selection process. Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 86, 106 S. Ct. 1712, 90 L. Ed. 2d 69 (1986). Such discrimination injury selection harms not only individual defendants and excluded jurors, it undermines the public’s confidence in the basic fairness of the judicial system. Id. at 87. The United States Supreme Court established a three-part test (the Batson test) to detect and eradicate the discriminatory use of peremptory challenges during jury selection. The first step of the Batson…