Race discrimination in jury selection
Grace v. United States
In brief
- Where it stands
- Petition Pending
Awaiting an order on the petition
- What it’s about
- Marshall Grace asks whether a federal appeals court may decide for itself if a party intentionally used a jury strike to exclude a potential juror because of race when the district court made no finding on that issue under Batson.
- What's at stake
- For Grace, it remains unresolved whether the Fifth Circuit may make the intent finding the district court did not.
Summary: written with AI from the case record.
What it's about
The Supreme Court distributed his petition for a conference, which is not a decision to hear the case.
Batson's third step asks whether a party used a jury strike with the intent to exclude a potential juror because of race.
Question presented
May a federal appellate court, after concluding that a federal district court has failed to make necessary findings under step three of Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986), proceed to make those findings in the first instance?
What happens next
The justices must decide whether to hear the petition. It was placed on the Court's Nov. 6, 2026, conference list, but that does not guarantee a decision date.
Documents
Docket activity
New analysis added
AI analysis generated: Case Briefing
Case data updated: summary, question_presented, generation_metadata
Case data updated: question_presented, extraction_metadata
Brief added: Petition
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Court Order added: Lower Court Orders/Opinions
Sources
Primary materials plus reporting. Best-effort analysis: this explainer relies on a mix of primary materials and trusted secondary sources. Official filings and opinions remain authoritative.