Facts
The parties of this lawsuit are Miguel Angel Pena-Rodriguez and the state of Colorado. The reason for them to come to the Supreme Court was that the former was accused of sexual assault by the state (Miguel Angel Pena-Rodriguez v. Colorado, 2016). However, two jurors made racist statements since the defendant was a Mexican man; hence, the Supreme Court was asked to exclude these jurors from voting. Even though the Supreme Court accepted the fact that their comments were racially biased, they were allowed to participate in voting, which resulted in Pena-Rodriguez pled guilty.
Issue
Should the defendant be released from duty since some jurors were racially biased when deciding whether this individual committed the crime? The specific provision of law, in this case, was that it was a clear violation of the Fourteenth Amendment that required removing racial discrimination from the official agencies.
Holding
The answer is “no” because, as explained in the case, jurors may make inappropriate statements based on one’s race. However, it does not mean that they exclude all the provided evidence to make a proper decision about whether the person is guilty, especially in such severe cases as harassment and inappropriate sexual contact.
Reasoning
The court claimed that some jurors might sometimes express inappropriate statements during hearings or voting. Still, it should not exclude them from participation in voting in situations when the crime is serious. They may have a negative attitude towards different races; however, there is always evidence they cannot ignore (Miguel Angel Pena-Rodriguez v. Colorado, 2016). Thus, the final outcome of such reasoning was that the two jurors who made biased statements based on Pena-Rodriguez’s race were allowed to be involved in the voting process. The Supreme Court concluded that a constitutional exception to deliberate racial bias could be applied to exclude the no-impeachment rule (Miguel Angel Pena-Rodriguez v. Colorado, 2016). Overall, this decision permitted the jurors, accused of using ethnically stereotyped expressions during the hearing, to contribute their voices to the sexual assault case.
Reference
Miguel Angel Pena-Rodriguez v. Colorado. (2016). Web.