Batson Challenges in Federal, Kansas, and Missouri Courts

In Batson v. Kentucky, 474 U.S. 79 (1986), the Supreme Court of the United States (“SCOTUS”) ruled generally that the use of peremptory strikes to disqualify potential jurors based solely on their race violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Specifically, the Court held that the use of peremptory strikes by the prosecution to exclude all four Black potential jurors from a jury pool, thus seating an all-white petit jury, on no other grounds besides the perspective jurors’ race violated a Black man’s right to equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court reasoned that the exclusion of potential jurors from the petite jury based solely on their race is abhorrent to the equal protections guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment because “those on the venir [the petit jury] must be ‘indifferently chosen,’ to secure the defendant’s right under the Fourteenth Amendment to ‘protection of life and liberty against race or color prejudice.’” Since its inception, “Batson challenges,” various courts have generally expanded beyond prohibiting the exclusion of potential jurors based solely on race to include ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, and age. This pathfinder aims to provide a general overview of the use and evolution of Batson challenges in Federal (10th and 8th Circuits), Missouri, and Kansas Courts. In addition to providing an overview of Batson challenges in these jurisdictions, this pathfinder aims to provide a framework through which those seeking to learn more about Batson and its progeny can develop and execute basic research plans into the case’s history and application. This pathfinder is intended for three audiences: (1) litigators new to jury selection; (2) non-barred legal professionals such as law student advocates and paralegals; and (3) those in related fields of law and inquiry such as transactional lawyering, political science, and history. As such, the pathfinder does not assume that the reader understands the basics of constitutional law or the structure of jury selection. Instead, this pathfinder endeavors to “baby-step” the reader through various concepts necessary to better contextualize how Batson challenges aim to create a more equitable jury trial system.