Court Opinion

ID: 9429723
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 23:27:44.081765+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:23:21.038542
License: Public Domain

Justice Stevens,
dissenting.
A rule that forbids discrimination in the selection of a grand jury must be justified primarily by the overriding interest in maintaining the integrity of the judicial process— both the actual fairness of that process and the symbolic values that it embodies. As I understand the Court’s prior cases, it is settled that the process that leads to a State’s deprivation of a person’s liberty is not “due process” if the selection of the grand jury that indicted the defendant was tainted by racial prejudice. That principle applies to the grand jury foreman, for he performs a function that has both practical and symbolic significance. See Rose v. Mitchell, 443 U. S. 545 (1979). Although I have expressed my doubts *363concerning the wisdom of applying this principle in certain situations, see id., at 593-594 (Stevens, J., dissenting in part), if we enforce the principle in state proceedings, surely we must insist on adherence to the same standard in the federal judicial system. Accordingly, I join JUSTICE Marshall’s dissenting opinion.