Batson for the Bench? Regulating the Peremptory Challenges of Judges
In the Chicago-Kent Law Review, Symposium on Race and Criminal Law, Vol. 73, No. 2, 1998
Posted: 26 Oct 1998
Date Written: April 1998
Abstract
This article discusses peremptory challenges of judges (not jurors). Over a dozen states grant prosecutors and defendants a right to strike one judge assigned to their case without providing a specific reason. Other jurisdictions are debating whether to create such a right. The author doubts the wisdom of the judicial peremptory challenge, raising, in particular, the danger that parties will exercise the right based on the judge's race. The article evaluates this danger in light of existing empirical data and considers how Batson might apply to limit race-based judicial strikes, including the issue of who would have standing in this context to raise such a Batson claim.
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation