FAILURE OF JUDGE TO GRANT PEREMPTORY CHALLENGE NOT A VIOLATION OF FEDERAL DUE PROCESS

The U. S. Supreme Court ruled in Rivera v. Illinois that a trial court’s erroneous denial of a peremptory challenge to a juror is not a violation of Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause.

In both state and Federal courts the parties are entitled to voir dire jurors. Each side can excuse jurors either for cause or as a peremptory challenge. A challenge for cause occurs when the party believes that the prospective juror is unfit to serve on the jury. This generally occurs when the juror due to preexisting conditions is unable to fairly deliberate and decide the case, For example, in a domestic violence case, some jurors will state during voir dire that they will always side with the woman. Therefore since they are unable to listen to the testimony and impartially decide the defendant’s guilt or innocence a challenge for cause is appropriate.

Generally, each side is also entitled to a limited number of peremptory challenges. In Illinois each side is allowed seven peremptory challenges. Historically peremptory challenges can be made for any reason and the party does not have to explain why it is challenging the individual. However in the 1980′s the Courts limited peremptory challenges by requiring that they not be made for a discriminatory purpose based on race, sex, or ethnicity. The lead Supreme Court case is Batson v. Kentucky