The SDFLA Blog is dedicated to providing news and notes regarding federal practice in the Southern District of Florida. The New Times calls the blog "the definitive source on South Florida's federal court system." All tips on court happenings are welcome and will remain anonymous. Please email David Markus at dmarkus@markuslaw.com
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
2 votes for dumping peremptory challenges
Yesterday the Supreme Court decided unanimously a habeas case, Rice v. Collins, which in the scheme of High Court rulings didn't shake the legal establishment. What's extremely interesting about this case is the concurrence by Justice Breyer re-affirming his position that we should do away with peremptory challenges altogether. I wrote an op-ed for the Miami Herald over the summer supporting this position. At the time, Breyer was alone on the Court in his belief that the only way to do away with discrimination in jury selection was to eliminate the peremptory challenge. He picked up a vote yesterday with Justice Souter who joined in the opinion. It looks like this idea is starting to pick up some momentum. The last time this topic was brought up on the blog, it brought about a lot of discussion. Any new thoughts?
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