On November 18, 2019, a group of Black Mississippians who are eligible to serve on juries filed a class-action lawsuit against Doug Evans, the District Attorney in the Fifth Circuit Court District of Mississippi, and his office. The case is Attala County NAACP V. Evans.
According to an American Public Media Reports (APM Reports) analysis, over the course of his tenure, Evans’ office has struck Black jurors 4.4 times more frequently than white jurors during jury selection in criminal trials. When controlling for race-neutral factors which might influence a strike, the rate is even more alarming – prospective Black jurors were 6.7 times more likely to be struck than white jurors.
The plaintiffs – represented by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) and the Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center – are asking a federal district court to stop the DA’s office from abusing its power to exclude Black jurors from criminal juries.
Visit FairJuries.net resources to learn more about jury discrimination and what we are doing –and what you can do– to stop it.