Today, in Flowers v. Mississippi, No. 17-9572 (June 21, 2019), the United States Supreme Court held that a Mississippi trial court committed clear error in concluding that the state’s peremptory strike of a particular black prospective juror was not motivated in substantial part by discriminatory intent. As a result, the Court reversed and remanded Mr. Flowers capital murder conviction and death sentence. Justice Kavanaugh wrote the 7-2 opinion for the Court. Justice Alito filed a concurring opinion. Justice Thomas filed a dissenting opinion, in which Justice Gorsuch joined as to Parts I, II, and III.
Merits briefing is available on the Supreme Court’s website, here. The Training Division provides resource materials on litigating jury issues, such as Batson challenges, bias and fairness, and voir dire and jury instructions.