Jackson v. Housing Authority of City of High Point, 374PA87
| Decision Date | 03 February 1988 |
| Docket Number | No. 374PA87,374PA87 |
| Citation | 321 N.C. 584,364 S.E.2d 416 |
| Parties | Linda H. JACKSON, Administratrix of the Estate of Mary Magdalene Jackson v. HOUSING AUTHORITY OF the CITY OF HIGH POINT. |
| Court | North Carolina Supreme Court |
Kennedy, Kennedy, Kennedy and Kennedy by Harold L. Kennedy III, Harvey L. Kennedy, and Annie Brown Kennedy, Winston-Salem, for plaintiff-appellant.
Henson, Henson, Bayliss & Coates by Perry C. Henson, J. Victor Bowman, and Jack B. Bayliss, Jr.; and Edward N. Post, High Point, for defendant-appellee.
A statement of the facts of this case is contained in the opinion on the first appeal, reported in 316 N.C. 259, 341 S.E.2d 523 (1986). The sole issue before us on this appeal is whether article I, section 26 of the North Carolina Constitution proscribes peremptory challenges to jurors in civil cases on the basis of race. We hold that it does.
Article I, section 26 provides:
No person shall be excluded from jury service on account of sex, race, color, religion, or national origin.
By its plain terms, this section of our constitution prohibits the exclusion of persons from jury service for reasons of race. It makes no distinction between civil and criminal trials. We conclude that this section applies to the use of peremptory challenges in all cases, civil and criminal. Furthermore, this provision of the constitution would be eviscerated if the use of peremptory challenges did not come within its ambit. It is true that a litigant in a civil case may exercise peremptory challenges during the voir dire process, N.C.G.S. § 9-19 (1986); Freeman v. Ponder, 234 N.C. 294, 67 S.E.2d 292 (1951), but such challenges must be exercised in a constitutional manner. Property rights, as well as life and liberty, are protected by our constitution. N.C. Const. art. I, § 19. Although long embedded in our common law, the use of peremptory challenges is based upon statutory authority and is not of constitutional dimension. Therefore, the statutory authority to exercise peremptory challenges must yield to the constitutional mandate of section 26.
Although the issue decided today is of recent origin, our holding finds support in the decisions of other state courts. Holley v. J & S Sweeping Co., 143 Cal.App.3d 588, 192 Cal.Rptr. 74 (1983); City of Miami v. Cornett, 463 So.2d 399 (Fla.App.1985).
Our decision is based solely upon adequate and independent state constitutional grounds. Michigan v. Long, 463 U.S. 1032, 103 S.Ct. 3469, 77 L.Ed.2d 1201 (1983). Therefore, we do not find it necessary to discuss plaintiff's federal constitutional arguments.
Our analysis of this appeal does not end with the above discussion. Plaintiff has failed to provide this Court with an adequate record from which to determine whether jurors were improperly excused by peremptory challenges in this trial. The statement by plaintiff's counsel is not sufficient, standing alone, to support a finding of discriminatory use of peremptory challenges. Impropriety in the selection of the jury cannot be supported solely by statements of counsel. State v. Corl, 250 N.C. 258, 108 S.E.2d 615 (1959). The moving party has the burden to offer evidence in support of its motion. Id. It...
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...on the record before it.’ " State v. Price, 344 N.C. 583, 593–94, 476 S.E.2d 317, 323 (1996) (quoting Jackson v. Housing Authority, 321 N.C. 584, 586, 364 S.E.2d 416, 417 (1988), and State v. Moore, 75 N.C.App. 543, 548, 331 S.E.2d 251, 254, disc. rev. denied, 315 N.C. 188, 337 S.E.2d 862 (......
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