Legal Definitions - jury of one's peers

Definition: In criminal cases, the defendant has the right to a jury of their peers at trial. This means that the jury should be made up of ordinary citizens who are similar to the defendant in terms of age, gender, race, and other characteristics. The purpose of this is to ensure that the jury's verdict is not influenced by biases that jurors may have before hearing the evidence.

For example, if a young African American man is accused of a crime, his jury should be made up of other young African American citizens. This is to ensure that the jury is not biased against him because of his race or age.

This right is guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which states that "the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury." This means that the jury should be fair and unbiased, and should not have any preconceived notions about the defendant or the case.

During the jury selection process, either party can use a peremptory challenge to exclude potentially biased jurors. This means that they can ask the judge to remove a juror from the pool without giving a reason.