General

Racial bias rule tossed

Jurors can’t be asked about attitudes towards black people

Until today, it was routine to ask jurors if their decision could be biased because of the race of the accused in court cases in Toronto, but only if the accused was black and the victim a different ethnicity. Justice John Murray of the Ontario Superior Court has changed that practice. He said allowing the question created a kind of “us and them” scenario, and that justice is better served by asking jurors if they can deliver a verdict “without regard to the race of the accused.”

Toronto Star

Tags:Canada