No. 19-8378

Joseph Howell v. Mark Garman, Superintendent, State Correctional Institution at Rockview, et al.

Lower Court: Third Circuit
Docketed: 2020-04-30
Status: Denied
Type: IFP
IFP
Tags: absolute-disparity duren-v-missouri fair-cross-section jury-pool jury-selection minority-representation presumption-of-legitimacy sixth-amendment systematic-exclusion venire-study
Key Terms:
DueProcess HabeasCorpus
Latest Conference: 2020-09-29
Question Presented (from Petition)

1. May a court deny a fair cross-section challenge to the jury pool simply because the "absolute disparity" is less than 10%, thereby sanctioning the complete exclusion from jury service of minorities that comprise less than 10% of the population?

2. Was the court of appeals' decision that Petitioner failed to show "systematic exclusion" because his six-month study of the venire was too short contrary to Duren v. Missouri, 439 U.S. 357 (1979), in which this Court found an eight-month study to be sufficient? And was it improper for the court of appeals to accord a "presumption of legitimacy" to the challenged jury selection system because the government had undertaken efforts at venire reform?

Question Presented (AI Summary)

May a court deny a fair cross-section challenge to the jury pool simply because the 'absolute disparity' is less than 10%, thereby sanctioning the complete exclusion from jury service of minorities that comprise less than 10% of the population?

Docket Entries

2020-10-05
Petition DENIED.
2020-06-18
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/29/2020.
2020-04-24
Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due June 1, 2020)
2020-02-21
Application (19A933) granted by Justice Alito extending the time to file until April 24, 2020.
2020-02-11
Application (19A933) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from February 24, 2020 to April 24, 2020, submitted to Justice Alito.

Attorneys

Joseph Howell
Loren Dougherty StewartFederal Community Defender Office, Petitioner