The Supreme Court case of JEB v. Alabama ex rel. T.B. involved a child support dispute in which prosecutors used peremptory challenges to reject most of the men in the jury pool. Analyze the case of JEB v. Alabama ex rel. T.B. (1994). Which of the following is the most likely reason the justices ruled as they did?(1 point)

Responses

The attorneys used secret trial proceedings.
The attorneys used secret trial proceedings.

The attorneys used the Confrontation Clause.
The attorneys used the Confrontation Clause.

Peremptory challenges on the basis of gender were a violation of the Sixth Amendment.
Peremptory challenges on the basis of gender were a violation of the Sixth Amendment.

Peremptory challenges on the basis of race were a violation of the Sixth Amendment.

1 answer

In the case of JEB v. Alabama ex rel. T.B. (1994), the Supreme Court ruled that the use of peremptory challenges to exclude jurors based on gender violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which was a significant expansion of the principles established in earlier cases regarding race-based exclusions.

Given the options provided and the context of the case, the most likely reason the justices ruled as they did is:

Peremptory challenges on the basis of gender were a violation of the Sixth Amendment.

While the case primarily centered around equal protection issues rather than the Sixth Amendment specifically, it addressed the broader principle that juror selection cannot be based on discriminatory practices, including discrimination based on gender. Thus, the ruling implicitly supports the idea that such practices undermine the integrity of the jury system and can violate rights that relate to a fair trial.

In summary, while the terminology may not be completely accurate in the context of JEB v. Alabama ex rel. T.B., the essential idea is that the Court's decision was founded on the principle that excluding jurors based on gender is unjust and violates constitutional protections.