Almost 40 years

Clearly, you can't expect total objectivity from something called the Thomas Miller-El Information Page, located at thomasmillerel.com. Figure as long as you know the biases up front, it's easier to filter them out.

There's background information on the Miller-El case specifically, if you'd like it, plus an article on Jury Selection in Dallas County:

The U.S. Supreme Court twice found Dallas County's method of selecting jury pools unconstitutional, forcing the county to include minorties in the venire In response, Dallas County, under the direction of the legendary Henry Wade, developed a system of training prosecutors to excuse minorities, women, Jews, and the physically challenged from criminal juries. In 1963, Bill Alexander, one of Henry Wade's top aides, wrote a treatise on jury selection in criminal cases. That treatise instructed prosecutors as follows: "Do not take Jews, Negroes, Dagos, Mexicans or a member of any monority [sic] race on a jury, no matter how rich or how well educated."

Emphasis added, of course.

Technically, they were taking class into account. Or at least mentioning it as irrelevant.

Sorry. There's another quote included at the top of that article:

"If you ever put another nigger on the jury, you're fired".

(Dallas County District Attorney Henry Wade reprimanding Assistant District Attorney Hampton for seating a black man on a jury.)

And even though I know things like this happened in the distant past (cough), it's not something I needed to see this early in the morning.

There was a fairly detailed story on Morning Edition, and the audio will be up later today. If you wanted to know more.

Right, one more thing, from that article on jury selection:

Soon after the Alexander memo was written, then-Assistant District Attorney Jon Sparling wrote the now-infamous Sparling memorandum, entitled "Jury Selection in a Criminal Case." This memo advised prosecutors to exclude from juries "any member of a minorty group which may subject him to oppression - they almost always empathize with the accused."

Sparling instructed prosecutors to avoid women ("I don't like women jurors because I can't trust them"); Jews ("Jewish veniremen [no clue - The Mgt.] generally make poor State's jurors...Jews have a history of oppression and generally empathize with the accused") and the physically challenged ("Look for physical afflictions...These people usually sympathize with the accused.")

In case you'd been wondering about the lumping together of wimmenandminorities, and the inclusion of peoplewithdisabilities in that group.

Good thing this is pre-Stonewall. It'd be even more crowded once you tossed the GLBT contingent in.