US Supreme Court declines to decide legality of excluding jurors based on religion

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON, Feb 20 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to decide the legality of excluding jurors on the basis of religion, turning away a Missouri agency's bid to reverse a lesbian worker's win in a workplace bias lawsuit after three prospective jurors were excluded for citing Christian beliefs that being gay is a sin.

State officials had appealed after a lower court denied their request for a new trial following a jury decision siding with plaintiff Jean Finney in her suit against the Missouri Department of Corrections. The state had argued that the removal during the jury selection process of the three individuals who expressed their religious views violated the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment promise of equal protection under the law.

Finney, who is a lesbian, sued the Department of Corrections, her longtime employer, claiming she faced a pattern of workplace discrimination and retaliation after she began dating a male co-worker's former wife. Finney, seeking monetary damages, accused the agency of violating Missouri human rights laws by creating a hostile work environment and discriminating against her on the basis of sex.

The jury in 2021 sided with Finney, awarding her a total of $275,000 for her sexual discrimination and hostile work environment claims.

-snip-

By John Kruzel
February 20, 2024 9:20 AM EST Updated 2 hours ago


Read more: https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-supreme-court-declines-decide-legality-excluding-jurors-based-religion-2024-02-20/

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Alternate no-paywall link: https://news.yahoo.com/us-supreme-court-declines-decide-145122807.html

[Voltaire2]

1. It wasn't a religion based exclusion.

They were excluded for being prejudiced against the plaintiff.

[Beartracks]

3. That's my read on it. Shouldn't matter where the prejudice comes from. n/t

[bucolic_frolic]

2. Sounds to me like they had no problem with the status quo there.