Race, Social Class, and Jury Participation: New Dimensions for Evaluating Discrimination in Jury Service and Jury Selection

• NCJ Number: 161904
• Journal: Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 24 Issue: 1 Dated: (1996) Pages: 71-88
• Author(s): H Fukurai
• Date Published: 1996
• Length: 18 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Earlier draft of article presented at the American Criminal Justice Society Meeting, 1995, Boston

Annotation

Since the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized the racial background of prospective jurors as an important dimension for evaluating jury participation but recent Supreme Court decisions have downplayed the importance of other relevant status considerations, this article examines whether juror social class is equally as important as racial and ethnic characteristics in explaining disproportionate representation on jury panels.

Abstract

The research was conducted in Orange County, California, using probit modeling as the analytical method. Survey questionnaires were sent to potential jurors who were randomly selected in 1986. Analysis revealed social class backgrounds of jurors were important determinants of jury participation, perhaps even more than racial and ethnic considerations of unrepresentative juries. The analysis of jury representation based on a single criterion such as race did not delineate the true extent of discrimination in jury selection. For example, when social class backgrounds of jurors were incorporated in the analysis of jury participation, social class positions, annual income, and managerial authority in the workplace exerted greater influence than race in explaining disproportionate jury representation. Similarly, when both race and social class of jurors were simultaneously analyzed, black and Hispanic prospective jurors with higher incomes and greater prestige jobs were systematically overrepresented on jury panels. The author concludes that, since juror race and social class positions together provide a more comprehensive view of disproportionate jury representation by various segments of community populations, future Supreme Court decisions need to take both race and social class factors into account in order to evaluate unrepresentative juries and to assess the extent of systematic discrimination in jury selection. 83 references, 13 notes, 2 tables, and 1 figure