''J. E. B. v. Alabama ex rel. T. B.'', 511 U.S. 127 (1994), was a

landmark decision Landmark court decisions, in present-day common law legal systems, establish precedents that determine a significant new legal principle or concept, or otherwise substantially affect the interpretation of existing law. "Leading case" is commonly ...

of the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point ...

holding that

peremptory challenge In American and Australian law, the right of peremptory challenge is a right in jury selection for the attorneys to reject a certain number of potential jurors without stating a reason. Other potential jurors may be challenged for cause, i.e. by ...

s based solely on a prospective juror's sex are unconstitutional. ''J.E.B.'' extended the court's existing precedent in ''

Batson v. Kentucky ''Batson v. Kentucky'', 476 U.S. 79 (1986), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court ruling that a prosecutor's use of a peremptory challenge in a criminal case—the dismissal of jurors without stating a valid cause for doin ...

'' (1986), which found race-based peremptory challenges in criminal trials unconstitutional, and '' Edmonson v. Leesville Concrete Company'' (1991), which extended that principle to civil trials.. As in ''Batson'', the court found that sex-based challenges violate the Equal Protection Clause.

Background

On behalf of T.B., the mother of a minor child, the state sued J.E.B. for

child support Child support (or child maintenance) is an ongoing, periodic payment made by a parent for the financial benefit of a child (or parent, caregiver, guardian) following the end of a marriage or other similar relationship. Child maintenance is paid d ...

Jackson County, Alabama Jackson County is the northeasternmost county in the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 census, the population was 52,579. The county seat is Scottsboro. The county was named for Andrew Jackson, general in the United States Army and after ...

. During jury selection, challenges intentionally targeted male potential jurors resulting in an all-female jury.

Decision

The majority opinion was written by Justice Blackmun. Justice O'Connor wrote a concurring opinion, and

Justice Kennedy Anthony McLeod Kennedy (born July 23, 1936) is an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1988 until his retirement in 2018. He was nominated to the court in 1987 by Preside ...

separately concurred in the judgment. Chief Justice Rehnquist filed a separate dissenting opinion.

Justice Scalia Antonin Gregory Scalia (; March 11, 1936 – February 13, 2016) was an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1986 until his death in 2016. He was described as the intellectua ...

also filed a dissenting opinion, which was joined by Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justice Thomas.

References

External links

* United States Supreme Court cases Batson challenge case law United States civil procedure case law 1994 in United States case law 1994 in Alabama 20th-century American trials Legal history of Alabama United States Sixth Amendment jury case law Jackson County, Mississippi Child support United States Supreme Court cases of the Rehnquist Court United States gender discrimination case law {{SCOTUS-case-stub

Background

Decision

See also

References

Further reading

External links