Denver, CO, March 6, 2017 . . . The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today applauded the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Peña-Rodriguez v. Colorado, which held that the Sixth Amendment right to an impartial jury requires that courts be allowed to consider evidence that a conviction was tainted by a juror’s racial bias.

“When racial prejudice infects our jury system, it undermines the very concept of a fair trial, and must be confronted head-on,” said Jeremy Shaver, ADL Associate Regional Director.  “The Court’s decision, which removes a bar to considering evidence of such racial bias when it rears its ugly head, is critical to preserve the integrity of our court system.”

Following a guilty verdict at trial in this case, two jurors reported that one of the other jurors had expressed racial bias against the defendant, who is Latino, during jury deliberations.  According to their affidavits, the juror made statements such as, “[he] did it because he’s Mexican and Mexican men take whatever they want,” and that he believed that “[the defendant] was guilty because in [that juror’s] experience as an ex-law enforcement officer, Mexican men had a bravado that caused them to believe they could do whatever they wanted with women.”   ADL joined the Hispanic National Bar Association and LatinoJustice PRLDEF in submitting an amicus brief, urging the U.S. Supreme Court to allow the use of specific evidence of racial bias in jury deliberations in order to prove a violation of the constitutional right to a trial by an impartial jury.

 

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is dedicated to fighting anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry.

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