Opinion ID: 78159
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Underrepresentation of Women in the Jury Pool

Text: Respondent does not take issue with Petitioner's contention that women were underrepresented in the jury pool from which Petitioner's trial jury was selected. And, the parties agree that Taylor v. Louisiana, 419 U.S. 522, 95 S.Ct. 692, 42 L.Ed.2d 690 (1975), held that the jury pool from which a petit jury is drawn must not systematically exclude distinctive groups, including women. But, the parties disagree as to whether Taylor applies to Petitioner's jury. Petitioner asks this court to find that Taylor does apply and to grant him relief on that basis. Respondent argues that Taylor (decided the year after Petitioner's trial) is not retroactive and that Petitioner is, therefore, not entitled to habeas relief on this claim. The district court denied Petitioner relief on this claim, finding that Daniel v. Louisiana, 420 U.S. 31, 95 S.Ct. 704, 42 L.Ed.2d 790 (1975), decided six days after Taylor, explicitly answers the question of whether Taylor is retroactive. Prevatte, 459 F.Supp.2d at 1323. In Daniel, the Supreme Court instructed that Taylor should not apply retroactively to convictions where juries were empaneled before Taylor was announced. 420 U.S. at 32, 95 S.Ct. at 704. The district court considered and rejected Petitioner's arguments that Supreme Court cases decided since Daniel have changed the retroactivity analysis and implicitly overruled its holding regarding Taylor. Prevatte, 459 F.Supp.2d at 1321-23. The district court held that, until the Supreme Court explicitly overrules Daniel, that case must be followed by courts of this circuit. Id. We agree with the district court. Pursuant to Daniel, Taylor does not apply retroactively to cases like Petitioner's where the jury was empaneled before Taylor was announced. Petitioner is not entitled to relief on this claim.