In Batson v. Kentucky (1986) the Supreme Court ruled that a prosecutor cannot systematically use peremptory challenges to strike jurors based on race. The court set forth a three-step process in evaluating claims of discrimination. First, the defendant must present reasons that support the contention that the prosecutor's peremptory challenges were based on race. Second, the State must produce race-neutral explanations for the peremptory challenge. Third, the trial court must determine if the peremptory challenges were based on race or on other factors. In Georgia v. McCollum (1992) the Court ruled that the three-step procedure applied equally to the defense, and in J.E.B. v. Alabama ex rel. T.B. (1994) to challenges based on gender. However the Court has always held, inter alia, the ultimate burden of proving or disproving racial motivation for the strike always falls on the party challenging the strike.
