On November 2, the U.S. Supreme Court heard argument in Foster v. Chatman, No. 14-8349, revisiting the issue once thought settled by the 1986 decision in Batson v. Kentucky, which held it unconstitutional to strike potential jurors based on race. A transcript of the oral argument in Foster is available here. The Court will post an audio recording on November 6.
For a brief review of peremptory challenges to jury selection and their history, see this excerpt from Professor Michael Roffer’s recently published The Law Book: From Hammurabi to the International Criminal Court, 250 Milestones in the History of Law.