Washington - The US Supreme Court on Monday overturned the death sentence of a black inmate imposed by an all-white jury.
The court ruled 7-1 in favour of Timothy Foster, who was convicted in the southern state of Georgia in the 1986 murder of a 79-year-old white woman.
Foster's lawyers at the time had protested that prosecutors struck all potential black jurors from the panel, and challenged the case again after gaining access to notes that showed the exclusion of black jurors was intentional.
The jury selection did not comply with rules set out by the Supreme Court in an earlier case to prevent racial discrimination in jury selection.
Chief Justice John Roberts concluded in his opinion that “prosecutors were motivated in substantial part by race.”
The Death Penalty Information Centre said the case illustrated the risks of the death penalty.
“History has taught us that this type of conduct risks intolerable racially discriminatory death sentences that undermine the legitimacy of the courts and destroy confidence that the death penalty can be administered fairly,” centre director Robert Dunham said.
The decision means Foster will be granted a new trial.
His lawyer, Stephen Bright, called for broader reforms to the jury selection process.
“Jury strikes motivated by race cannot be tolerated,” Bright said.
“The exclusion of black citizens from jury service results in juries that do not represent their communities and undermines the credibility and legitimacy of the criminal justice system.”
DPA