⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

The Supreme Court considers whether Mississippi unreasonably treated Terry Pitchford as having given up his Batson argument. At his capital-murder trial, the prosecutor used peremptory challenges—strikes that normally require no stated cause—to remove four of five Black prospective jurors. Batson bars race-based jury strikes: once the prosecutor gives race-neutral reasons, the defense may show that those reasons are a pretext for discrimination before the judge decides whether discrimination occurred. The trial judge accepted the stated reasons without giving Pitchford's lawyer a sufficient chance to complete that third step. The Mississippi Supreme Court found the argument waived. A federal district court granted relief, but the Fifth Circuit reversed under AEDPA. That statute sharply limits federal review of state convictions. The Supreme Court later reversed five to four, holding that Mississippi unreasonably found waiver. It did not decide whether the strikes themselves were discriminatory.

Pitchford v. Cain (No. 24-7351) — Supreme Court of the United States, argued March 31, 2026.