Hernandez v. New York

Infobox SCOTUS case
Litigants=Hernandez v. New York
ArgueDate=February 25
ArgueYear=1991
DecideDate=May 28
DecideYear=1991
FullName=Hernandez v. New York
USVol=500
USPage=352
Citation=
Prior=
Subsequent=
Holding=A prosecutor's peremptory challenges of Spanish-speaking Latino jurors based on his doubts about the ability of such jurors to defer to the official translation of Spanish-language testimony did not violate the Equal Protection Clause.
SCOTUS=1990-1991
Plurality=Kennedy
JoinPlurality=Rehnquist, White, Souter
Concurrence=O'Connor
JoinConcurrence=Scalia
Dissent=Blackmun
Dissent2=Stevens
JoinDissent2=Marshall
LawsApplied=

"Hernandez v. New York", 500 U.S. 352 (1991), was a decision by the United States Supreme Court, which held that a prosecutor may dismiss jurors who are bilingual in Spanish and English from juries that will consider Spanish-language testimony.

Peremptory challenges are used to remove jurors thought to be undesirable for virtually any reason by either side in a court case. However, in "Batson v. Kentucky" (1986), the Supreme Court ruled that peremptory challenges may not be used to remove jurors because of their race. In "Hernandez", the Supreme Court had to decide whether the peremptory exclusion of two Hispanic jurors was tantamount to exclusion because of race—and therefore violated the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution.

ee also

*List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 500
*"Hernandez v. Texas" (1954)

Further reading

*cite book |chapter=The New American Spanish War: How the Courts and the Legislatures Are Aiding the Supression of Languages Other Than English |title=Language Ideologies: Critical Perspectives on the Official English Movement |last=Perea |first=Juan F. |authorlink= |editor=Dueñas Gonzalez, Roseann; Melis, Ildikó |year=2001 |publisher=L. Erlbaum Associates |location=Mahwah, NJ |isbn=0805840540 |pages=121–139
*cite book |chapter="Hernandez v. New York" (1991) and the exclusion of bilingual jurors |title=Latinos and American Law: Landmark Supreme Court Cases |last=Soltero |first=Carlos R. |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=2006 |publisher=University of Texas Press |location=Austin, TX |isbn=0292714114 |pages=157–170