Brief Fact Summary. Plaintiff, J.E.B., challenged the lower courts’ decision allowing Respondent, the state of Alabama, to use its peremptory challenges to remove all the male jurors.
Synopsis of Rule of Law. The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution prohibits a party to use their peremptory challenges to remove jurors based on gender.
Even strikes based on characteristics that are disproportionately associated with one gender could be appropriate, absent a showing of pretext.
View Full Point of LawIssue. The issue is whether the Equal Protection Clause prohibits intentional discrimination in jury selection based on gender.
Held. The majority of the United States Supreme Court held that parties should not be allowed to discriminate based upon gender when selecting a jury. The state should not be allowed to promote cynical stereotypes of the manner in which men and women weigh evidence. Women, similarly to African-Americans, have historically been discriminated against, and the Equal Protection Clause prohibits that manner of reasoning.
Discussion. The Court reviewed the historical discrimination that women had to endure, and noted that it was relatively recent that women have been allowed to vote or granted certain legal rights.