Purkett v. Elem
- Decided
- May 15, 1995
- Docket
- 94-802
- Status
- Published
- Jurisdiction
- Federal
Cited 3,008 timesDisapproved (not yet verified)Possible negative treatment: disapproved (not yet verified) · Ex Parte Bruner
What later courts said
- holding that unless a discriminatory intent is inherent in the prosecutor’s explanation, the reason offered will be deemed race neutral — Williams v. State (2009)
- concluding that the . Court of Appeals incorrectly applied Batson by combining its second and third steps into one — Jeffrey Lee Atwater v. James v. Crosby, Jr. (2006)
- holding that “[w]hat it means by a ‘legitimate reason’ is not a reason that makes sense, but a reason that does not deny equal protection” — Golphin v. Branker (2008)
Each line is a later court’s own words about this case, not a summary. Read the opinion before relying on it.
How the opinion begins
[*766] Per Curiam.
Respondent was convicted of second-degree robbery in a Missouri court. During jury selection, he objected to the prosecutor’s use of peremptory challenges to strike two black men from the jury panel, an objection arguably based on Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U. S. 79 (1986). The prosecutor explained his strikes:
“I struck [juror] number twenty-two because of his long hair. He had long curly hair. He had the longest hair of anybody on the panel by far. He appeared to me to not be a good juror for that fact, the fact that he had long hair hanging down shoulder length, curly, unkempt hair. Also, he had a mustache and a goatee type beard. And juror number twenty-four also has a mustache and goatee type beard. Those are the only two people on the jury . . . with the facial hair .... And I don’t like the way they looked, with the way the hair is cut, both of them. And the mustaches and the beards look suspicious to me.” App. to Pet. for Cert. A-41.
Statutes cited
Cite this
Purkett v. Elem, 514 U.S. 765 (1995)Read the full opinion
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