What are the elements of proof required to establish intentional racial discrimination in the juror selection process?

The elements of proof required to establish a prima facie case of intentional racial discrimination in the juror selection process turn of necessity on the circumstances of each case. See Alexander v. Louisiana, 405 U.S. 625, 626, 629, 92 S.Ct. 1221, 1222, 1223, 1224, 31 L.Ed.2d 536 (1976). The proportion of an identifiable group eliminated from the pool of eligible jurors, along with the susceptibility of the selection process to abuse, are surely important factors in this determination. Indeed, the substantial underrepresentation or the complete exclusion of an identifiable group,

Page 1259

These cases, however, do not support appellant's much broader claim that the mere susceptibility of a system to abuse, along with a single instance of substantial underrepresentation on a jury venire, establishes a prima facie case of intentional discrimination as a matter of law. In our view, whether further evidence of intentional discrimination is required depends in large part upon such crucial considerations as the difficulty of proving that bias had intruded into a particular selection procedure. See generally Hernandez v. Texas, 347 U.S. at 481-82, 74 S.Ct. at 671-72. Different juror selection systems are susceptible to covert abuse in varying degrees: a system in which jury commissioners select jurors on the basis of such vague and non-quantifiable attributes as "good moral character" is obviously more easily abused with impunity than a selection method in which objective selection criteria are mechanically applied.