The court ruling that makes it legal for African-Americans (and other minorities) to have their causes heard by all-white grand juries and, later, to be subjected to all-white jury trials have proven over time to be illegal racial discrimination, which has caused grave injustice to people-of-color for decades. The cases of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and Eric Gardner are nothing new but merely a continuation of the history of our judicial system's sanctioned brutality against people-of-color as the 1955 -Emmett Till- case has proven. If not repealed, Batson * will continue to have its devastating and destructive effects over the lives of people-of-color by depriving them their constitutional right to a fair and impartial jury system under guise of judicial process. Indeed, in America, a country designated as the melting pot, with its many different types of people, ideas, religions, etc. existing together, racial diversity on juries would unquestionably improve a jury’s ability to assess witness testimony, evaluate cross-racial situations, avoid unfounded presumptions, and permit a fair outcome in both criminal and civil proceedings. Equally important, racial diversity on juries would improve public confidence on part of African-Americans (and other minorities) in our American Jury System.

______________________________                                                                                  */  Justice THURGOOD MARSHALL, concurring opinion:

“The decision today will not end the racial discrimination that peremptories inject into the jury-selection process. That goal can be accomplished only by eliminating peremptory challenges entirely.” Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 102-103, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 1726 (U.S.,1986)