In a recent ruling, a federal appeals court has upheld the jury selection process used by Manhattan’s federal trial court, despite acknowledging “troubling” racial disparities. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals confirmed that while the system shows concerning racial imbalances, the defendant in the case failed to demonstrate that these imbalances led to systemic underrepresentation of Black and Hispanic or Latino individuals.
The case involved Ellva Slaughter, who had challenged his 2023 gun-offense conviction, arguing that the jury selection process for his indictment was skewed. Slaughter’s legal team pointed to statistics indicating that Black individuals, who make up 21.19% of the jury-eligible population in the district, were represented at only 16.08% among potential jurors. Similarly, Hispanic or Latino individuals, who account for 28.44% of eligible voters, were underrepresented at 19.41%.
Judge Beth Robinson, who authored the opinion for the three-judge panel, acknowledged the disparities and noted that they have worsened over the past thirty years. She emphasized that the Southern District of New York, the only district in the 2nd Circuit relying solely on voter registration data for jury selection, had previously updated its juror list only every four years—a practice that has since changed to every two years as of October 2023.
While Robinson recognized the potential for such disparities to eventually become intolerable, she concluded that in this instance, Slaughter’s legal team had not provided enough evidence to prove that the district’s selection practices led to systemic exclusion of minorities.
The case highlights ongoing concerns about the fairness of jury selection processes and their impact on representation.
