Foster V. Chatman Case

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Foster v. Chatman case on prosecutors deliberately excluding African-Americans from criminal juries. Timothy Foster was accused of killing an elderly white woman and during the jury selection process for the trial, the prosecutors struck all four potential black jurors. Foster eventually was sentenced to death, which the result could have been different if there was at least one of the black citizens called to serve. The prosecution has never admitted that race played a role in selecting a jury for Mr. Foster’s trail, however, some of its “race-neutral” reasons for strikes were inaccurate and inconsistent. The author said that “from 2005 to 2009, prosecutors in Alabama struck 80 percent of qualified black jurors from death penalty cases.” Consequently, in a country that’s 27 percent black, half of death penalty juries were all-white, and other half had one black citizen each. From 1986, the Supreme Court had been trying to outlaw this practice, but prosecutors often ignore that decision by excluding black jurors, saying that their marital status, manner of dress, and other “race neutral” reasons are not appropriate for the trials.

The author of the article pointed out the importance of interracial juries, such as making fewer factual errors, and considering a wider variety of perspectives than all-white juries. Taking Foster v. Chatman case as an example, the author argues that the court must meaningfully enforce the ban on racial discrimination in jury selection. I believe that all people, including criminals, deserve to get an equal treatment. My argument for chapter 3 is that embedded in the U.S culture, the racial bias within the criminal justice system causes people of colored to be unfairly targeted and punished. Discrimination in jury selection is indeed a national problem or is a result of racism in the U.S. The article is a perfect example that show how the view of prosecutors on race affect colored people in criminal justice system.

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