← All Cases Coverage by Bryan K. Randolph · BrynoDC

Flowers v. Mississippi

No. 17-9572 SCOTUS · Decided SCOTUS

AEDPA (Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act) Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act Batson Batson challenge Equal Protection race-neutral explanation appellate review conviction reversal jury selection jury selection discrimination objectively unreasonable standard peremptory challenge peremptory challenges preliminary injunction race-neutral explanations waiver of objections

Legal Issues

AEDPA (Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act)Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty ActBatsonBatson challengeEqual Protectionrace-neutral explanationappellate reviewconviction reversaljury selectionjury selection discriminationobjectively unreasonable standardperemptory challengeperemptory challengespreliminary injunctionrace-neutral explanationswaiver of objections

BrynoDC Coverage 1 video

TikTok

3/31/26 #morningreport #scotus will be live at 10 AM ET today to argu...

Mar 31, 2026

YouTube

The Law · How the Case Works

Overview

Curtis Flowers was tried six times for the same quadruple murder in Winona, Mississippi, with the same prosecutor using peremptory strikes to remove virtually every Black prospective juror across the trials. The Supreme Court reversed 7-2 in 2019, finding that the history of race-based juror exclusion across all six trials was directly relevant to assessing whether the sixth trial violated Batson v. Kentucky. The decision is notable for permitting cross-trial analysis of a prosecutor's pattern of discriminatory strikes.

The Conclusion

Conclusion

The Supreme Court reversed 7-2, holding that a prosecutor's pattern of race-based juror strikes across multiple trials is relevant to assessing Batson violations. The decision permitted cross-trial analysis to evaluate whether systematic exclusion of Black jurors demonstrated intentional discrimination, rather than evaluating each trial in isolation.

The Record · 1 original document