The big problem with how we pick juries
A legal loophole makes juries less diverse.
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Four years after the shooting death of Laquan McDonald, the police officer, Jason Van Dyke, faced his day in court. But in a trial where race became central to the case, there’s only one black person on the jury. And that’s in a county where nearly a quarter of people are black. How did this happen?
In jury selection, racial discrimination has historically been tricky. Discrimination isn’t allowed in jury selection, thanks to what’s called a “Batson challenge.” But the problem is — Batson has been widely regarded as a failure at keeping racism out of the jury box. Watch the video above to find out why that is, and why it complicates the prospect of a fair trial by jury.
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@deleted-something
January 16, 2026 at 11:16 am
This wouldn’t happen under Trump
@Shioyi
January 16, 2026 at 11:16 am
Erhm ok.., bro was running around in the street holding a knife ready like that, absolutely NOT surprised he got shot lol what did yall expect
@JS-xu1so
January 16, 2026 at 11:16 am
this is just more racially tangled bullsh. we cant strike jurors because of race but we should select them because of race. race matters when selecting jurors but we should "judge a person by their character not their race." select jurors by their character. also there is more to who my peers are than just race.
@comlain2513
January 16, 2026 at 11:16 am
how exactly did his death a bad thing?
@andrewhall7930
January 16, 2026 at 11:16 am
The roots of our (criminal) legal system is 75% British, 12% French, 3% Latin and 10% uniquely American. If you research the similarities between the USA and Britain its pretty staggering. Try it sometime
@gp33music41
January 16, 2026 at 11:16 am
This is incredibly racist
@taehyungkim1856
January 16, 2026 at 11:16 am
Get rid of jury system. it is ridiculous. what are you doing bringing in ordinary people who do not know laws
@waquasalam1450
January 16, 2026 at 11:16 am
It goes both way
@HazeKasaki
January 16, 2026 at 11:16 am
But OJ did it😂
@BeWithTamia
January 16, 2026 at 11:16 am
This is a real problem. I’ve only seen in my 25 years of living one family member get picked for Jury Duty. My mother is in her 40s and has yet to be picked at all.
@Red-spy_RED-SPY
January 16, 2026 at 11:16 am
who names their kid McDonalds. I think you need to file a case on the parents
@TheHorrorDevotee
January 16, 2026 at 11:16 am
In the UK, we don't even typical voir dire jurors. Once you're summoned, 16 members of the pool are randomly selected for a trial and then the clerk reads off 12 names to go sit in the box. The only time jurors are challenged is if the defendant, prosecution, or one of the witnesses recognises one of you.
@jekw23
January 16, 2026 at 11:16 am
I was on a three month trial, multiple attempted murder charges.
The scariest part to me was the other jurors. The amount of hubris, ignorance and entitlement was astounding. Some had made their decision before the end of the opening statements. Trey were all over the place but always 100% sure they were right even after changing their mind multiple times.
I’ll never want to go in front of a jury.
@DeathByRhapsody
January 16, 2026 at 11:16 am
I wouldn't trust a jury of my peers with a bag of groceries, let alone my own life.
@Talha-wl1vx
January 16, 2026 at 11:16 am
Solution: choose us asians for all 13 of them. Problem solved.
N.B. guys, this is a joke
@etinamunashe
January 16, 2026 at 11:16 am
Very informative video.Thank you
@xcaliberVirus
January 16, 2026 at 11:16 am
No wonder why my white wife gets a summons twice a year and I've only had one my whole adult life.
@koscocosco5309
January 16, 2026 at 11:16 am
Judge should decide cases on facts and evidence.. Not saying that it would be perfect..
It would definitely be cheaper and less of a circus.
@aaausername
January 16, 2026 at 11:16 am
Why do they sometimes pick juries from lists of licensed drivers? That's leaving out a lot of people that otherwise would be able to serve on the jury but just don't drive.
@JohnAndJaneDoe65
January 16, 2026 at 11:16 am
Im a lawyer from a commonwealth jurisdiction and the jury system is mind boggling. Why put justice in the hands of common folks who dont know bettrb
@agoodspeler5457
January 16, 2026 at 11:16 am
Why do you use fictional examples to illustrate your non-fictional statements? Like using clips from The Devil's Advocate and How To Get Away With Murder. Fiction literally didn't happen, and is stained by the biases of its creator. Fiction may have some elements based on non-fiction, and it can be based on a true story, but that still begs the question, why not use the real story it's based on then? Citing fiction doesn't strengthen your arguments.
@Greatcountry37
January 16, 2026 at 11:16 am
I want to know: there's a big focus on black people being underrepresented in this video, but has there been any studies in how likely racial groups are to skip jury duty?
@normbograham3
January 16, 2026 at 11:16 am
We are in a day and age, where in lots of states, your voter registration is not private information. So, the judges can try to skew the jury, to have only republicans, or only democrats. We also have a problem with paying jurors. To be fair, they need to be paid $100/day. there is no way any working person, can pay their bills with less.
@Charlie05155
January 16, 2026 at 11:16 am
The recommendation lol
@ramsescampollo2506
January 16, 2026 at 11:16 am
Thanks youtube this is totally unrelated to any real world events currently happening
@nguyengiahuy6292
January 16, 2026 at 11:16 am
Interesting recommendation
@larryachiya
January 16, 2026 at 11:16 am
Van Dijk?
@Dineshkumar-jf2hz
January 16, 2026 at 11:16 am
Why don't US end jury duty for criminal cases? It's very old system and lots of holes and flaws
@hrishirao4152
January 16, 2026 at 11:16 am
Well well well what excellent timing youtube algorithm
Comments are closed.