Last week of the Second Circuit's August 2010 Term. One habeas case to be argued.
Wednesday, June 22 at Court of International Trade
Watson v. Ricks, 10-2346-pr
- Status: Calendared for 6/22/11, A panel
- Panel: Straub, Raggi, Wesley
- Lower Ct. Info: 05-CV-7288, 2010 WL 2346614 (SDNY June 02, 2010) (WHP) (JCF)
- In Circuit: District Court COA
- Issues: Batson violation
Quick Note: The MJ had originally recommended that a reconstruction hearing be ordered since petitioner had established a prima facie case of discrimination based on national origin. The prosecutor had struck five out of five jurors who were of West Indian descent, the same national origin as petitioner. The DJ agreed with the recommendation and sent it to state court. At the reconstruction hearing, the state court concluded that the challenges were not done in a discriminatory fashion. The DJ concluded that the decision was not unreasonable.
So, the current appeal is not as interesting as the original R&R, which was quite interesting. The MJ did break some ground in concluding that Batson covered discrimination based on national origin. Here's an article I found about the original R&R. Here's the concluding paragraph:
While at first blush it may seem axiomatic that peremptory challenges should not be permitted based on discriminatory intent of any kind, particularly when made by the prosecution in criminal matters, the Watson v. Ricks case demonstrates this issue to be more complex, and less straightforward, than it may otherwise appear. Just as race, ethnicity, and gender are inappropriate vehicles for shaping a jury based on peremptory challenges, Magistrate Judge Francis provides a compelling statement that discrimination based on national origin should not be permitted in the juryselection process.
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