Supreme Court Denies TX Death Row Appeal

The Supreme Court has denied the appeal of Kristopher Love, a Black Texas death row inmate who said his jury had been tainted by racial bias, citing his objection to the seating of a juror who had said he believed “nonwhite races” to be the “more violent races,” reports the New York Times. Although the three liberal members dissented, the majority gave no reasons for refusing to hear Love’s appeal.

As part of jury selection in his case, prospective jurors filled out a questionnaire that asked, among other things, “Do you believe that some races and/or ethnic groups tend to be more violent than others?” The prospective juror in question, who is white, said yes. He added an explanation: “Statistics show more violent crimes are committed by certain races. I believe in statistics.” Love’s lawyers asked the judge to strike the prospective juror for cause, but the judge declined because he had exhausted his peremptory challenges. In her dissent, Justice Sotomayor said that the state appeals court should grapple with whether Love’s right to an impartial jury had been violated, adding that the questioning of potential jurors played an important role in the effort “to cleanse our jury system of racial bias.”