Supreme Court rules for Black death row inmate in Mississippi, citing racial bias in jury selection
Washington — The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday sided with Terry Pitchford, a Black death row inmate from Mississippi who argued that prosecutors improperly excluded Black jurors during his trial. The 5–4 ruling, written by Justice Brett Kavanaugh and joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and the court’s three liberal justices, invalidated Pitchford’s conviction and death sentence.
The decision marks the latest chapter in the ongoing legal battle over racial discrimination in jury selection, a flashpoint that has drawn increased scrutiny since the high court’s landmark 1986 ruling in Batson v. Kentucky. That precedent forbids prosecutors from striking potential jurors solely because of their race, and requires trial judges to carefully review any race-neutral explanations offered for such strikes.
In Pitchford’s case, the state trial court failed to complete the third step of the Batson framework, which requires a judge to rule on whether the stated reasons for striking a juror are genuine or merely a pretext for discrimination. The defense repeatedly objected, but the judge moved on without making that determination. An all-white jury — 11 white members and one Black juror — convicted Pitchford of capital murder for the 2004 killing of a white grocery store owner, Reuben Britt, during an armed robbery. The actual shooter was Pitchford’s teenage accomplice, Eric Bullins, who was 16 at the time and therefore ineligible for the death penalty. Bullins received a 20-year sentence.
The Supreme Court’s ruling does not free Pitchford; Mississippi may retry him. But the decision underscores the court’s willingness to police the integrity of the jury-selection process, even in death-penalty cases. Justice Kavanaugh wrote for the majority that “whether due to confusion, oversight, an overly hurried jury selection process, or some other cause, things broke down” and that Pitchford’s objections were never properly resolved.
The case gained additional resonance because the prosecutor at Pitchford’s trial, former District Attorney Doug Evans, also handled the well-known case of Curtis Flowers, a Black death row inmate whose murder convictions were repeatedly overturned — ultimately by the Supreme Court in 2019 — for systematically striking Black jurors. Evans’s history of excluding Black potential jurors has been heavily scrutinized by civil rights advocates.
Dissenting, Justice Neil Gorsuch — joined by Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Amy Coney Barrett — argued that Pitchford had failed to meet the stringent federal standard for overturning a state conviction. Gorsuch wrote that the majority “errs on the law and the factual record alike,” but acknowledged the ruling was narrow, applying only to Pitchford’s specific circumstances.
Legal analysts say Thursday’s decision could have significant practical implications, reinforcing that trial judges must adhere strictly to Batson’s three-step process. Lower courts, especially in states with a history of racial disparities in jury composition, may face heightened scrutiny when they fail to conduct a full Batson hearing. Meanwhile, advocates for criminal justice reform praised the outcome as a check on systemic bias, while some conservative voices warned it expands federal court intervention in state proceedings.
Pitchford’s case now returns to the lower courts for further proceedings, where Mississippi will decide whether to seek a new trial or death sentence.