The peremptory challenge accused of race or gender discrimination? Some data from one county.

Some view the peremptory challenge as crucial to a fair jury selection process, whereas for others, it is a tool for invidious race or gender discrimination. Nevertheless, debates utilize little empirical data regarding uses of this challenge. Data are reported from observation of a small number of criminal trials in one, largely biracial southeastern county. In the aggregate, there was no association between race and selection for a jury, and only a modest relationship for gender and selection. However, the null finding for race masks a pattern of strikes by each party: When dismissed, Whites were likely to be excused by the defense, and African Americans by the state. A trial-by-trial analysis showed that when disparities between venire and jury composition existed, the direction usually pointed to overrepresentation of African Americans and women on juries. Despite limited generalizability, the data suggest the need for a more informed debate about the peremptory challenge's use in modern criminal trials.