The opinions expressed in this commentary are exclusively those of the author.
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This video includes clips from CBS and images from U.S. Supreme Court and Getty Images.
In doing so, “the court affords a death-row inmate another opportunity to relitigate his long-final conviction”, he said. Monday’s decision entitles him to a new trial, with a jury of his peers that hasn’t been tainted by racial discrimination.
In this case, there was such a revelation. And all this produced multiple cases in which black defendants facing capital murder charges in majority-black counties were tried by all-white juries.
The Florida Supreme Court earlier this year indefinitely postponed the execution of Mark James Asay, a convicted double murderer who was scheduled to be put to death on March 17.
The Southern Center for Human Rights in Atlanta alleged prosecutors noted black jurors on their notes from jury selection.
The state will have to decide whether to re-try Foster – this time before jury of his peers selected for reasons that are not exclusively based on race. Timothy Foster grew up in Rome’s projects, which were 90% black at the time.
Foster was sentenced to die.
A training session, sponsored by the N.C. Conference of District Attorneys, where prosecutors were given a cheat sheet of “race-neutral” excuses that they could use to justify their illegal strikes of black jurors. Trial judges routinely accept the reason and declare that there was no discrimination. So the prosecutors then gave reasons for the strikes. The black jurors were rated against each other “in case it comes down to having to pick one”.
“The state’s new argument today does not dissuade us from the conclusion that its prosecutors were motivated in substantial part by race when they struck Garrett and Hood from the jury 30 years ago”, the opinion said, referring to two black potential jurors, Marilyn Garret and Eddie Hood. And yet even that woman ranked behind the black jurors, he said.
Batson’s force is often more theoretical than actual, however, because it sets up a standard that makes it very hard for someone convicted of a crime to prove that jury discrimination occurred. There are several other examples such as this from Foster’s case.
Twenty years after the sentence, his lawyer used the Georgia Open Records Act to obtain the prosecution’s notes while it was picking a jury. “Two peremptory strikes on the basis of race are two more than the Constitution allows”, he concluded.
According to memos by the prosecution that were uncovered by the defense, prosecutors wrote the letter “B” next to each potential black juror and then circled their race on the jury selection forms. Twenty years later, Foster’s attorneys discovered the prosecution’s notes showing they did intentionally keep African-American prospective jurors off that jury. As Justice Elena Kagan commented during oral argument, “Isn’t this as clear a Batson violation as a court is ever going to see?”. Thomas said the case should have been sent back to state courts to determine whether Foster’s claim could proceed. Once that happens, the trial judge rules on which side they believe, and higher courts are not supposed to disturb this determination except in “exceptional circumstances”.
He said that this suit could cause a flood of inmates wanting to dig into their cases, trying to find similar evidence for a new trial.
But what about all the other Timothy Fosters out there? “So it reversed the Georgia court’s finding that there was no race discrimination in this case”.
A jury in Asay’s case recommended death on both first-degree murder counts with a vote of 9-3.
Indeed, studies have shown that exclusion of black citizens from juries is still a problem.
Monday’s decision won’t end discrimination in jury selection.
These are called peremptory strikes, and in 1986, the court faced up to the fact that they can sometimes mask racial discrimination.
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A decision in the case, Foster v. Chatman, 14-8349, is expected by late spring.
