Court to Decide if Lawyers Can Block Gays From Juries (July 29, 2013)

[kpete]

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by greatauntoftriplets (a host of the Latest Breaking News forum).

Source: New York TImes

Court to Decide if Lawyers Can Block Gays From Juries
By ADAM LIPTAK
Published: July 29, 2013


WASHINGTON — Last month’s Supreme Court rulings on same-sex marriage were major gay rights victories. But countless questions about the legal rights of gay men and lesbians remain.

Here’s one: May gays be excluded from juries on account of their sexual orientation? The federal appeals court in California will soon decide the issue, which turns out to be surprisingly knotty.

It arose at the 2011 trial of an antitrust fight between two giant drug companies. After a potential juror appeared to reveal that he was gay, a lawyer for Abbott Laboratories used a peremptory strike — one that does not require a reason — to eliminate him from the jury pool.

An opposing lawyer objected, saying the juror “is or appears to be, could be, homosexual.”

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/30/us/court-weighs-exclusion-of-jurors-because-theyre-gay.html?hp

[Demeter]

1. Oh, Please!

If we can't block assholes, everybody else should be able to serve, too.

[ZombieHorde]

2. So, can all the straight people be kicked out of a jury? nt

[niyad]

3. dear goddes, PLEASE tell me the nyt accidentally printed something from the Onion. this is TWO

THOUSAND THIRTEEN and we are deciding whether gays can serve on juries? What freaking planet IS THIS?

[greatauntoftriplets]

4. Sorry, but we're locking this as a dupe.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014551546