People v. Payne

The use of peremptory challenges to exclude black jurors solely on the basis of their race has denied the defendant, Stanley Payne, his constitutional rights to equal protection of the laws and to a trial by a fair and impartial jury drawn from a cross section of the community where he was tried. The majority’s continuing support of this practice will erode public confidence in the fairness and impartiality of our criminal justice system, particularly among the large portion of our population who are of the same race as the persons who are the objects of the exclusion. While this issue cries…