The Minnesota Supreme Court sent a case back to a lower court in October after the defendant raised concerns about the racial makeup of the jury panel.
In its decision, the state’s high court considered systemic data analysis and social science research provided by David Schultz, Distinguished University Professor of Political Science and Legal Studies at Hamline University. Schultz says this decision raises the possibility that courts may need to reconsider past case law and change the law to address racial disparities.
“We know that the presence of at least one person of color on a jury has a huge impact on verdicts,” Schultz says. “So this is potentially a really important decision for racial justice in Minnesota.”
Background of the case
The case involves Atravius Joseph Weeks, a Black man charged with murder in Dakota County in 2021. The pool of potential jurors came from voter registration and driver’s license records – a longstanding practice.
Dakota County’s population is 7.5% Black. Of the 60 prospective jurors drawn from the jury pool, one was Black, or 1.6%. Weeks objected, arguing that the current panel did not adequately represent the community.
The district court said Weeks did not show that the systematic exclusion of Black people from the jury pool resulted in Blacks being underrepresented on the panel. The case proceeded.
Weeks was found guilty on all three counts and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Using data analysis and social science research
At the request of Weeks’ public defenders, Schultz prepared an affidavit arguing that the jury pool – from which jury panels are selected – is not representative of the community.
Nationwide, gaps among whites and non-whites registering to vote or getting driver’s licenses have been growing. At the county level, data on race, voter registration and driver’s licenses is not available due to privacy concerns, Schultz said. So he used the best available statistics to make reasonable inferences about racial disparities in the selection and makeup of jury pools. In the end, he concluded that people of color are systemically underrepresented in jury pools.
“While at one time the use of voter registration lists and driver’s licenses may have formed the basis of a fair and racially equitable jury pool, they no longer do so,” he wrote in the affidavit.
Case remanded
The high court reversed the decision and sent the case back to district court to consider the argument that the jury was not racially representative.
“What we’re asking for here is to make sure that the people of a county have a fair opportunity to appear on a jury,” Schultz says, “and if you are facing a trial, that you have a fair opportunity to have a jury that represents a real cross-section of the community.”