Jury Room ‘Black Box’ Broken Open at Supreme Court

The jury room is usually a black box, where secret deliberations determine the fates of defendants. At oral argument today, the U.S. Supreme Court grappled with whether racism was a sufficient reason to crack the black box open.

Both sides faced difficult questions as the justices struggled with the pernicious effects of racial bias on the criminal justice system, and what principles could limit the inquiry into what happens in the jury room.

Jeffrey L. Fisher of Stanford Law School, representing defendant Miguel Angel Peña-Rodriguez, was hammered right off the bat by questions from Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. ...