Flowers v. Mississippi on Race in Jury Selection

Abstract

This case is about the constitutional protections of an impartial jury recognized by the Bill of Rights, against the backdrop of the role of race in criminal justice. The process of jury selection in the United States has historically included the ability of opposing attorneys to remove a certain number of prospective jurors. The practice has often resulted in the exclusion of minorities, which the Court has recognized to be unconstitutional. The problem is identifying and enforcing a standard for the constitutional limits of the selection process in order to allow legitimate challenges to individual jurors but not racist exclusions of an entire group. Flowers reinforces a limit on the illegitimate consideration of race and clarifies the standard for a legal challenge to unconstitutional jury selection.