California Supreme Court to study ways to prevent discrimination in juries

In an interview, State Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley), who chairs the State Senate’s Public Safety Committee, said she is closely watching the court’s study and added, “I look forward to seeing what they’re going to recommend.”

Skinner said that while she was reluctant to embrace one solution other states have adopted — eliminating preemptory challenges altogether — she also wouldn’t take it off the table.

“It is a tradition while we absolutely have the right to jury of our peers, but to eliminate the ability to have a preemptory challenge isn’t necessarily the way to go because it affects the defense too,” Skinner said. “But if it’s being used in a way that primarily eliminates African-Americans or people of color, that may need to be looked at.”

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