Also known as: perempt · perempts · perempted · perempting · peremptory challenge · peremptory writ
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A challenge exercisable against a prospective juror without any showing of cause or bias. The number of such challenges allotted to each side is fixed by statute or rule in both civil and criminal trials. Discriminatory exercise of these challenges on the basis of race or gender violates the Equal Protection Clause.
Pablo Perez faces federal charges carrying more than one year in prison. During jury selection the court grants the government six peremptory challenges and Pablo ten. Pablo uses his tenth strike to remove a juror the government had hoped to keep.
Priscilla Parks, a Black defendant, notices the prosecutor has struck every Black venire member. She makes a prima facie showing of racial motivation. The prosecutor must then supply a race-neutral reason for each strike.
Prime Logistics sues Prosperity Investments in federal court. The judge must provide each side the three peremptory challenges required by statute. The court refuses to reduce that number despite scheduling pressure.
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Priya Prasad represents a female plaintiff. Defense counsel strikes every female venire member solely because of gender. The court sustains Priya's objection because such strikes violate equal protection.
Parker Phillips, a private defendant in a civil suit, strikes Black jurors on racial grounds. The court treats the strikes as state action because jury selection occurs under judicial supervision. The strikes are disallowed.
Phuong Pham is convicted after a juror later admits racial animus influenced deliberations. The court permits inquiry into that bias even though it arose during peremptory-challenge screening. The verdict is set aside.
The government receives six and the defendant receives ten when the offense is punishable by more than one year in prison. The court may allow additional challenges for multiple defendants but must respect the statutory baseline.
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A defendant must first make a prima facie showing that peremptory challenges were exercised on racial grounds. The burden then shifts to the striking party to offer a race-neutral explanation. The court finally determines whether purposeful discrimination has been proven.
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No. Federal rules require the court to allow the number of peremptory challenges provided by statute. Judicial concerns about time or complexity cannot override that mandatory allocation.
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Yes. Strikes exercised solely on the basis of a juror's sex are unconstitutional. The same three-step framework used for race applies to gender discrimination in jury selection.
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Yes. Jury selection is a traditional public function conducted with court participation, making private strikes state action. Racially discriminatory use therefore violates the Equal Protection Clause.
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…Swain v. Alabama recognized that a defendant could make out a prima facie case of purposeful discrimination on proof that the peremptory challenge system was being perverted, the Court went on to observe that a defendant could not establish a prima facie case of racial discrimination solely on proof of the prosecutor's use of…