Swain v. Alabama
E821201
Swain v. Alabama was a 1965 U.S. Supreme Court decision that set a high evidentiary bar for proving racial discrimination in jury selection, later overturned by Batson v. Kentucky.
Statements (47)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
United States Supreme Court case
ⓘ
criminal procedure case ⓘ jury selection case ⓘ |
| appliesTo | peremptory challenges ⓘ |
| concerns |
racial discrimination against Black citizens in jury service
ⓘ
use of peremptory strikes to exclude Black jurors ⓘ |
| establishedStandard | requirement of proof of long-term systematic exclusion of a racial group from juries ⓘ |
| hasAreaOfLaw |
civil rights
ⓘ
constitutional law ⓘ criminal law ⓘ criminal procedure ⓘ |
| hasChiefJusticeAtDecision | Earl Warren NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| hasCitation | 380 U.S. 202 ⓘ |
| hasConstitutionalProvisionInvoked | Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection Clause GENERATED ⓘ |
| hasCountry |
United States of America
ⓘ
surface form:
United States
|
| hasCourt | Supreme Court of the United States NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| hasDecisionDate | 1965 ⓘ |
| hasDecisionType | majority opinion ⓘ |
| hasDefendantRace | Black ⓘ |
| hasFullCitation | Swain v. Alabama, 380 U.S. 202 (1965) NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| hasHistoricalSignificance |
illustrates limitations of early Equal Protection jurisprudence on jury discrimination
ⓘ
key pre-Batson precedent on racial discrimination in jury selection ⓘ |
| hasImpact |
allowed broad prosecutorial discretion in use of peremptory challenges
ⓘ
made it very difficult for defendants to prove racial discrimination in jury selection ⓘ |
| hasJurisdiction | State of Alabama NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| hasLegalIssue |
Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
racial discrimination in jury selection ⓘ |
| hasMajorityOpinionBy | Justice Byron White NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| hasPetitioner | Robert Swain NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| hasProceduralPosture | review of a state criminal conviction on writ of certiorari ⓘ |
| hasRespondent | State of Alabama NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| hasSubjectMatter | criminal conviction of a Black defendant by an all-white or nearly all-white jury ⓘ |
| hasSubsequentHistory | standard for proving racial discrimination in peremptory challenges replaced by Batson v. Kentucky ⓘ |
| hasTimePeriod | Warren Court era NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| held |
a defendant must show systematic exclusion of Black jurors over time to prove unconstitutional discrimination
ⓘ
discriminatory use of peremptory challenges in a single case is insufficient to establish an Equal Protection violation under its standard ⓘ |
| interprets |
Equal Protection Clause
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| isRelatedCase |
Batson v. Kentucky
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Georgia v. McCollum NERFINISHED ⓘ Hernandez v. Texas NERFINISHED ⓘ Powers v. Ohio NERFINISHED ⓘ Strauder v. West Virginia NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| isRelatedDoctrine | Batson challenge NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| wasCriticizedFor |
insulating discriminatory jury selection practices from effective challenge
ⓘ
setting an extremely high evidentiary burden for proving racial discrimination in jury selection ⓘ |
| wasOverruledBy | Batson v. Kentucky NERFINISHED ⓘ |
Referenced by (2)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.