{"id":127,"date":"2026-05-28T20:18:36","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T20:18:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=127"},"modified":"2026-05-28T20:18:36","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T20:18:36","slug":"us-supreme-court-sides-with-death-row-inmate-who-claimed-racial-bias-in-jury-selection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=127","title":{"rendered":"US Supreme Court Sides With Death Row Inmate Who Claimed Racial Bias in Jury Selection"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p>By Andrew Chung<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>May 28 (Reuters) &#8211; The U.S. Supreme Court sided on \u2060Thursday \u2060with a Black death row inmate \u2060in Mississippi who accused prosecutors of racial discrimination in blocking Black potential jurors for \u200ba trial in which he was convicted in 2006 for his role in the murder of a grocery store owner.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=125\">Ice Hockey-Canada Through to World Championship Semis After Win Over US<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>The justices \u200cruled 5-4 that state courts in \u200cMississippi did not properly evaluate Terry Pitchford&#8217;s claim that four Black potential jurors had been unlawfully dismissed in violation \u2060of a landmark \u20601986 Supreme Court precedent known as Batson v. Kentucky that prohibits excluding jurors \u200bbased on their race.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Only one member of the 12-person jury that convicted Pitchford and sentenced him to death was Black. Black people made up about 40% of the population of the county where the trial was held at the time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>&#8220;In this case, whether \u200bdue to confusion, oversight, an overly hurried jury selection process or some other cause, things broke down,&#8221; \u2060Justice Brett \u2060Kavanaugh wrote for the court.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Kavanaugh \u2060was joined by \u200bfellow conservative Chief Justice John Roberts and the court&#8217;s three liberal members.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>The Mississippi Supreme Court &#8220;unreasonably applied the clearly \u200bestablished Batson precedents and unreasonably \u2060determined that Pitchford waived his opportunity to rebut the prosecutor&#8217;s asserted race-neutral reasons&#8221; for removing the potential jurors, Kavanaugh wrote.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Justice Neil Gorsuch dissented from Thursday&#8217;s decision, joined by fellow conservative Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Amy Coney Barrett.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=123\">US Postal Service Suspends Non-Essential Spending Amid Cash Crunch<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Gorsuch said that Pitchford had not met the stringent standards under a 1996 federal law that made it harder for individuals to \u2060challenge state convictions in federal court.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Pitchford, 40, was 18 years old when he was arrested and \u2060charged for participating in a 2004 armed robbery at the Crossroads Grocery near Grenada in rural north-central Mississippi, in which his accomplice fatally shot the shop&#8217;s white owner, named Reuben Britt.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>The Supreme Court effectively reinstated a 2023 decision by U.S. District Judge Michael Mills to throw out Pitchford&#8217;s conviction based on the state court&#8217;s violation of the Batson precedent. The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had overturned the judge&#8217;s decision in 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Pitchford is &#8220;now entitled to a fair trial in the state court,&#8221; said his lawyer Joseph Perkovich, who welcomed the Supreme Court&#8217;s ruling.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>&#8220;We are very pleased to see the \u2060court recognize the extreme failure of the state courts to enforce essential protections under the Constitution,&#8221; Perkovich added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>The case presented similarities to one that the court confronted in 2019 when it threw out the conviction of another Black Mississippi death row inmate, Curtis Flowers, after finding that the prosecutor, Doug Evans, \u200bunlawfully blocked Black potential jurors. Evans, who is now retired, also was the prosecutor in \u200bPitchford&#8217;s case.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=121\">US Bars Drones Over FIFA World Cup Sites as It Boosts Precautions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>(Reporting by Andrew Chung; Editing by Will Dunham)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><b>Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters<\/b>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>US News is a recognized leader in college, grad school, hospital, mutual fund, and car rankings. Track elected officials, research health conditions, and find news you can use in politics, business, health, and education.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":126,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[44,115,8,60],"class_list":["post-127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-top-news","tag-crime","tag-mississippi","tag-sign-in-to-manage-your-newsletters","tag-united-states"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>US Supreme Court Sides With Death Row Inmate Who Claimed Racial Bias in Jury Selection - Office Moving America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=127\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"US Supreme Court Sides With Death Row Inmate Who Claimed Racial Bias in Jury Selection - Office Moving America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"US News is a recognized leader in college, grad school, hospital, mutual fund, and car rankings. Track elected officials, research health conditions, and find news you can use in politics, business, health, and education.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=127\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Office Moving America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-28T20:18:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=127#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=127\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/953f33efe585ac76cdf8428d434d3061\"},\"headline\":\"US Supreme Court Sides With Death Row Inmate Who Claimed Racial Bias in Jury Selection\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-28T20:18:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=127\"},\"wordCount\":515,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=127#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/ad81710641496e363ab7974fe359fd46.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"crime\",\"Mississippi\",\"Sign in to manage your newsletters \u00bb\",\"United States\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Top News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=127#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=127\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=127\",\"name\":\"US Supreme Court Sides With Death Row Inmate Who Claimed Racial Bias in Jury Selection - Office Moving America\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=127#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=127#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/ad81710641496e363ab7974fe359fd46.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-28T20:18:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/953f33efe585ac76cdf8428d434d3061\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=127#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=127\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=127#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/ad81710641496e363ab7974fe359fd46.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/ad81710641496e363ab7974fe359fd46.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":599,\"caption\":\"FILE PHOTO: A fountain outside the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 14, 2026. REUTERS\\\/Will Dunham\\\/File Photo\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=127#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"US Supreme Court Sides With Death Row Inmate Who Claimed Racial Bias in Jury Selection\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Office Moving America\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/953f33efe585ac76cdf8428d434d3061\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"US Supreme Court Sides With Death Row Inmate Who Claimed Racial Bias in Jury Selection - Office Moving America","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=127","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"US Supreme Court Sides With Death Row Inmate Who Claimed Racial Bias in Jury Selection - Office Moving America","og_description":"US News is a recognized leader in college, grad school, hospital, mutual fund, and car rankings. Track elected officials, research health conditions, and find news you can use in politics, business, health, and education.","og_url":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=127","og_site_name":"Office Moving America","article_published_time":"2026-05-28T20:18:36+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=127#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=127"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/#\/schema\/person\/953f33efe585ac76cdf8428d434d3061"},"headline":"US Supreme Court Sides With Death Row Inmate Who Claimed Racial Bias in Jury Selection","datePublished":"2026-05-28T20:18:36+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=127"},"wordCount":515,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=127#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ad81710641496e363ab7974fe359fd46.jpg","keywords":["crime","Mississippi","Sign in to manage your newsletters \u00bb","United States"],"articleSection":["Top News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=127#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=127","url":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=127","name":"US Supreme Court Sides With Death Row Inmate Who Claimed Racial Bias in Jury Selection - Office Moving America","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=127#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=127#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ad81710641496e363ab7974fe359fd46.jpg","datePublished":"2026-05-28T20:18:36+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/#\/schema\/person\/953f33efe585ac76cdf8428d434d3061"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=127#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=127"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=127#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ad81710641496e363ab7974fe359fd46.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ad81710641496e363ab7974fe359fd46.jpg","width":800,"height":599,"caption":"FILE PHOTO: A fountain outside the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 14, 2026. REUTERS\/Will Dunham\/File Photo"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=127#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"US Supreme Court Sides With Death Row Inmate Who Claimed Racial Bias in Jury Selection"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/","name":"Office Moving America","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/#\/schema\/person\/953f33efe585ac76cdf8428d434d3061","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/officemovingamerica.com"],"url":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=127"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}