The question
Whether the Mississippi Supreme Court unreasonably applied Batson v. Kentucky when it held that Pitchford waived his opportunity to rebut the prosecutor's asserted race-neutral reasons for striking four black prospective jurors.
Pitchford v. Cain
What the Court decided
The Court held that the Mississippi Supreme Court unreasonably applied the clearly established Batson precedents and unreasonably found that Pitchford waived his chance to rebut the prosecutor's stated race-neutral reasons for striking four black jurors. The trial court omitted Batson's third step by never giving Pitchford's counsel a sufficient opportunity to argue pretext and never deciding whether the reasons were pretextual. Counsel did not waive the argument, and the trial court had explicitly assured counsel that the objection was preserved.
How the justices split
5-4The Court's opinion
Kavanaugh, joined by Roberts, Sotomayor, Kagan, Jackson
The trial court omitted Batson's third step by failing to give Pitchford's counsel a sufficient opportunity to rebut the prosecutor's proffered race-neutral reasons and never deciding whether those reasons were pretextual. Counsel did not waive the argument, because counsel objected again to the explanations and the trial court explicitly assured counsel that the objection was preserved. The Mississippi Supreme Court therefore unreasonably applied the clearly established Batson precedents.
Dissenting
Gorsuch, joined by Thomas, Alito, Barrett
Gorsuch filed a dissenting opinion, joined by Thomas, Alito, and Barrett. The syllabus text provided does not state the dissent's reasoning.
How we know · 5 sourced claims
The Court held that the Mississippi Supreme Court unreasonably applied the clearly established Batson precedents regarding the peremptory strikes of four black prospective jurors.
Source: syllabus, Held
The trial court omitted Batson's third step by not affording Pitchford's counsel a sufficient opportunity to rebut the prosecutor's proffered race-neutral reasons and never determining whether those reasons were pretextual.
Source: syllabus, Held
The trial court explicitly assured Pitchford's counsel that the Batson objection was preserved, stating the objections were already made and clear in the record.
Source: syllabus, Held
Kavanaugh delivered the opinion of the Court, joined by Roberts, Sotomayor, Kagan, and Jackson.
Source: syllabus, lineup
Gorsuch filed a dissenting opinion, joined by Thomas, Alito, and Barrett.
Source: syllabus, lineup