Supreme Court should reject proposal to modify peremptory challenge rule

For the Defense

By Donald P. Eckler

Donald “Pat” Eckler is a partner at Freeman, Mathis, & Gary LLP, focusing on professional liability defense, insurance coverage litigation, and general tort defense. He is the legislative chair of Illinois Defense Counsel. Eckler also is the co-host of the Podium and Panel podcast with Daniel Cotter. His views are his own and not those of his firm or its clients.

Posted November 16, 2022 9:49 AM

“When did you stop beating your wife?”That is a loaded question we all know is inappropriate because it presumes the object of the question started beating his wife.Yet, that is exactly the impact of the proposal to amend Illinois Supreme Court Rule 434 regarding preemptory challenges in criminal cases when it flips the burden of justifying a strike under Batson v. Kentucky from the opponent of the peremptory strike to the party who is seeking the strike. Instead of presuming that the object of the question is a wife …

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