Peremptory Challenge in the United States

Summary removal of a juror from sitting on a case. Peremptory challenges or “strikes” may be made by either party to a case. When a party strikes a juror, no reason is required for doing so. The number of peremptory challenges is normally limited by law and varies with the seriousness of a charge. For example, some jurisdictions permit only three or five peremptory challenges in less serious cases, but allow as many as fifty challenges in capital cases. The peremptory challenge differs from the removal of a juror for “cause” in that no specific reason for believing a juror to be less than impartial need be offered.

See Also

Jury (Criminal Process) Voir Dire (Criminal Process).

Analysis and Relevance

Peremptory challenges allow the parties to a lawsuit to influence the composition of a jury about to hear their case. This is done to make sure that the jury is impartial, but also for strategic reasons. The peremptory challenge allows the prosecutor, for example, to remove a young juror from the trial of a college student charged with marijuana possession. Such a removal is not based on direct evidence the juror may not be impartial, but on intuition or information gleened from such sources as public records or opinion polls. Occasionally lawyers, as they prepare for jury selection, use consultants who advise them of local population attitudes and characteristics. The use of peremptory challenges may be influenced by such advice. While both sides are generally free to strike whomever they wish within the legal limits, a peremptory challenge may not be used to exclude persons based on race, gender, or national origin. As a long-standing policy, jury selection techniques cannot “systematically exclude” persons from jury service because of race. Nonetheless, demonstrating that peremptory challenges were racially motivated remained difficult to show. In Batson v. Kentucky (476 U.S. 79: 1986), the Supreme Court required prosecutors to demonstrate a nonracial reason for striking black jurors if a defendant could establish a prima facie case of intentional discrimination.

Notes and References

1. Definition of Peremptory Challenge from the American Law Dictionary, 1991, California

Peremptory Challenge Definition

A challenge without cause given, allowed to prisoner’s counsel in criminal cases, up to a certain number of jurors. 11 Chit. Stat. 59, 689; 2 Harg. St. Tr. 808; 4 Harg. St. Tr. 1; Fost. Crim. Law, 42; 4 Bl. Comm. 353*. See “Challenge.”

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Legal Issue for Attorneys

A challenge without cause given, allowed to prisoner’s counsel in criminal cases, up to a certain number of jurors. 11 Chit. Stat. 59, 689; 2 Harg. St. Tr. 808; 4 Harg. St. Tr. 1; Fost. Crim. Law, 42; 4 Bl. Comm. 353*. See “Challenge.”

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This definition of Peremptory Challenge Is based on the The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary . This definition needs to be proofread..