PROSECUTION IS ENTITLED TO A BATSON EQUAL PROTECTION CHALLENGE
The Supreme Court has held that the prosecution is entitled to preclude defendants from exercising their peremptory strikes in a racially discriminatory fashion. In Georgia v. McCollum, 505 U.S. 42, 112 S.Ct. 2348, 120 L.Ed.2d 33 (1992), the Court filled the gap left by Batson, holding that a defendant’s use of peremptory challenges is “state action” for equal protection purposes, and that the prosecution has standing to litigate the issue of racial discrimination on the part of a defendant.
