Why African Americans are Underrepresented as Jurors in the Zimmerman Case & in Most Cases in American Courtrooms

A jury has been seated in the George Zimmerman murder trial.  Zimmerman, who identifies as Hispanic, is accused of killing unarmed Trayvon Martin, an African American boy who had just turned seventeen.  The prosecution says that Zimmerman improperly profiled Martin, suspecting him of wrongdoing although Martin was simply walking back from a trip to a convenience store.  The defense team claims that Martin attacked and threatened Zimmerman, who shot the teenager once in self-defense.

Florida requires only six jurors in noncapital cases, and all six are female.

Probably more significant, as this case has become for some a racial flashpoint, is the ethnic composition:  five white, and just one juror who is black and/or Hispanic.  Seminole County, according to 2010 census figures, is 11% African American and 17% Hispanic.

As it turns out, it’s not unusual for minorities, especially African-American men, to be underrepresented on American juries.  It doesn’t “just happen” that juries like this one are whiter than the population in their county.  As I wrote in my recent book Swagger, because African-Americans are disproportionately targeted in America’s War on Drugs – narcotics enforcement overwhelmingly occurs in inner city neighborhoods, though blacks and whites use and sell at roughly the same rates – African Americans are disproportionately incarcerated, and once released, disproportionately subject to felon disenfranchisement laws.  Most state laws bar felons from voting, sometimes for life, which is sometimes discussed around elections.  Almost never discussed is that most state laws bar convicted felons, even those who did their time years ago and have been contributing ever since, from serving on juries — usually for life.

According to one Georgia study, for example, in some counties more than half of African-American men are excluded from jury service because they are convicted felons.   Nationwide, according to another study, almost one-third of black men are barred from jury duty.   In Seminole County, where the Zimmerman trial will begin on Monday, jurors are automatically disqualified if they have ever been convicted of a felony, or if they are currently facing a prosecution – rules that apply in most of the United States.

The disqualification of large numbers of black men from juries is particularly disturbing given that so many black men are caught up in the criminal justice system and face trials themselves — yet they are the least likely to get a jury of their peers.

Laws limiting the rights of ex cons have gotten more onerous in the last few decades, barring them from student loans, public housing, licensing in many professions, even food stamps.  The United States stands alone in the civilized world in so harshly punishing ex cons after they have served their time, and thus we have very high rates of recidivism.  And the collateral damage to the rest of us is that we have less representative elections and juries.

Human Rights Watch’s sober assessment is that there is “a widespread belief in the United States that people who have broken the law do not deserve a second chance and are the legitimate target of policies that are little more than expressions of disdain and hostility.” And thus these policies continue unabated, with no political will to change them, even as the soaring costs of mass incarceration are destroying other worthy programs like education. We once believed that after an inmate served his time, his debt to society was repaid and he deserved a new opportunity to begin again. Human Rights Watch’s report title encapsulates the new American view toward even petty offenders: “No Second Chance.”

The opinions expressed here represent my own and not necessarily those of Avvo.com.