Date of Award
Spring 2020
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Major
Public Policy and Law
First Advisor
Glenn W. Falk
Second Advisor
Adrienne Fulco
Abstract
The U.S. Supreme Court decisions Duren v. Missouri (1979) and Batson v. Kentucky (1986) address under-representative venire drawing processes and discriminatory peremptory strikes during voir dire, respectively, to combat jury discrimination. In this thesis, I examine state level implementation of these two decisions in five states - Connecticut, Florida, Louisiana, Illinois, and Washington - to evaluate jury discrimination jurisprudence and recommend improvements at jurisprudential and policy levels. While state-level Duren and Batson jurisprudence remains woefully underdeveloped, recent developments such as Washington’s General Rule 37 and Connecticut’s Jury Selection Task Force could initiate a nationwide reform effort.
Recommended Citation
Lawson, John, "Interpretation and Implementation of Duren v. Missouri (1978) and Batson v. Kentucky (1986) in Five States". Senior Theses, Trinity College, Hartford, CT 2020.
Trinity College Digital Repository, https://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/theses/853
Included in
Civil Rights and Discrimination Commons, Constitutional Law Commons, Criminal Procedure Commons, Jurisprudence Commons, Law and Race Commons, Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility Commons, State and Local Government Law Commons
Comments
Senior thesis completed at Trinity College, Hartford CT for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Sociology.