This week the US Supreme Court ruled that racial discrimination in the selection of a jury was unconstitutional. It used two cases to make its point. In a Texas case, the court ordered a new trail for a defendant when the prosecutor in the case stacked the jury in favor if the prosecution.
Justice Stephen Breyer wrote an opinion that discrimination in jury selection is getting worse and points to the sophisticated methods used by jury consultants.
"The use of race- and gender-based stereotypes in the jury-selection process seems better organized and more systematized than ever before," he wrote in a solo opinion.
In 1986, the Supreme Court barred prosecutors from disqualifying potential jurors based on their race. Breyer said that enforcing that is hard because judges must "engage in the awkward, sometimes hopeless task of second-guessing" strikes.
"It may be impossible," he wrote Monday, "for trial courts to discern if a 'seat-of-the pants' peremptory challenge reflects a 'seat-of-the-pants' racial stereotype."
A peremptory challenge allows an attorney to dismiss a juror without cause.
In his opinion Justice Breyer hinted that one way to avoid the perception of jury selection based on racial or other profiling would be to eliminate peremptory challenges.
No other justices joined Breyer in his opinion, but his comment could lay the groundwork for the issue to come back to the Court.
"The right to a jury free of discriminatory taint is constitutionally protected — the right to use peremptory challenges is not," he wrote.
Justice Suggests Radical Change to Trials - Yahoo! News
Supreme Court
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The autopsy of Terri Schiavo released today backed her husband's claim that she was in a persistent vegetative state. The report also found she was severely and irreversible brain damaged and blind. The report refutes the claims of Bob and Mary Schindler who believe Michael Schiavo abused and strangled his wife.
Medical examiners could not say, however, what caused Schiavo's collapse in 1990, long thought to be theresultt of an eating disorder.
The autopsy report listed the cause of death as dehydration. Schiavo died 9 days after a feeding tube was removed at the request of Michael Schiavo.
"This damage was irreversible, and no amount of therapy or treatment would have regenerated the massive loss of neurons," said Pinellas-Pasco County Medical Examiner Dr. Jon Thogmartin, who led the autopsy team. He also said she was blind, because the "vision centers of her brain were dead."
The autopsy included 274 internal and external pictures and an exhaustive review of medical records, police reports, and social service agency records.
Despite the findings, the Schindlers continue to believe that she was alert and responsive and that Michael had something to do with her collapse.
While I am sorry for the Schindler's loss, the autopsy report cannot be faulted. It followed a trail of evidence and made its findings based on science not emotion. It is clear the Schindler's need to move on keeping the memory of their daughter alive in their hearts.
Hopefully, this will also put to an end comments by House Majority Leader Tom DeLay about "judicial activism" in this case. It has always been obvious that the judges who reviewed this case knew more about the evidence than DeLay. It is also obvious DeLay was using the Schiavo case to deflect comment on his ethics problems and to use the casepoliticallyy. As noted in this columnn before, Congress had no business interfering is this very personal matter.
If Congress was working for the people and the public saw that they were, it would make for better laws and less partisan bickering. Again, Mr. DeLay you should be ashamed.
Schiavo Autopsy Shows Massive Brain Damage - Yahoo! News
Terri Schiavo
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Hillary Clinton (D-NY) seems to be upset at the press. On Monday, a major appearance by the junior senator from New York in Buffalo was closed to the press. This followed comments a week earlier when she chastised the press for being too lenient on the Bush administration.
At first the local Democratic Party said Clinton wanted the event closed to media. Later reports say it was the local Democrats that wanted the event closed. Isn't it typical of aClintonn event to have severaldifferentt sides to a controversy? Whatever the real reason, media representativess were turned away from the $1,200-a-plate fundraiserr.
For her part,Clintonn claims to have no knowledge of theproblemm. In a conference call, the senator said, "I did not make that decision. I am happy when I speak at Democratic events to have it open to the press. I guess that was a decision by the leadership of the Erie County Democratic Party. This is the first I've heard of it."
A typical Clinton response.
Buffalo News - No clear answer on who closed event to media
Hillary Clinton
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More tomorrow
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