Courtroom Observation of Ethnic Representation among Jurors in Harris County, Texas

The ethnic composition of 22 juries in Harris County, Texas was compared with the ethnic composition of the decennial census of the county. Results showed an under-representation of Hispanic members and an over-representation of Euro-American jury members in civil, family law, and criminal trials. African-American members were represented on juries in proportion to their presence in the general population in the county. Whether this misrepresentation reflects selection factors in developing the jury pools, is the result of exercise of peremptory challenges by lawyers, or some other biasing factor is unknown.