Recommended Citation
Maureen A. Howard, Taking the High Road: Why Prosecutors Should Voluntarily Waive Peremptory Challenges, 23 Geo. J. Legal Ethics 369 (2010), https://digitalcommons.law.uw.edu/faculty-articles/367
Publication Title
Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics
Keywords
jurors, peremptory challenges
Document Type
Article
Abstract
In this Article, I review the efficacy of peremptory challenges and conclude that both empirical and anecdotal evidence confirm such challenges are of little utility. I contend that the marginal benefit of peremptory challenges to a criminal prosecutor is outweighed by the damage done to both the actual and perceived fairness of the system, and that imbalance should persuade prosecutors to consider a wholesale voluntary waiver of peremptory challenges.