News / FJP Releases

Stay informed on the latest breaking news, updates and official statements from Fair and Just Prosecution

September 24, 2025

FJP Files Brief Urging Supreme Court to Grant Review in Case Tainted by Gender-Based Jury Discrimination

Fair and Just Prosecution (FJP) filed an amicus brief in Bryan Christopher Bell & Antwaun Kyral Sims v. State of North Carolina, supporting a petition for a writ of certiorari urging the U.S. Supreme Court to review North Carolina’s handling of serious claims that gender-based discrimination infected jury selection.

The Constitution forbids striking even a single juror for a discriminatory purpose, and prosecutors must safeguard a fair jury process by supporting meaningful appellate or post-conviction review when evidence of discrimination emerges. In Petitioners’ cases, the record includes an admission that a prospective juror was struck based on her gender. For centuries, women were barred by law from serving on juries, and even after those laws were struck down, prosecutors have used peremptory strikes to remove them from the jury pool. Allowing a conviction to stand when the jury selection was corrupted by gender discrimination diminishes progress toward achieving a fair trial and equality under the law.

“Discrimination in jury selection is a clear constitutional violation and a direct assault on the legitimacy of the criminal justice system,” said FJP Executive Director Aramis Ayala. “When a juror is excluded because of gender, the defendant is denied a fair trial, the juror is denied a core democratic right, and the community is left with a verdict that lacks integrity and cannot command trust. Excluding women in particular revives a long and shameful history of barring them from equal participation in public life, compounding the constitutional harm with a profound social one. The Supreme Court must act to correct this injustice and make clear that discriminatory jury selection will not be tolerated.”

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September 12, 2025

FJP Files Brief Urging Court to Protect Prosecutors’ Duty to Correct Wrongful Convictions

Yesterday, Fair and Just Prosecution (FJP) filed an amicus brief in Johnson v. Superintendent, Mahanoy SCI calling on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit to rehear a decision that improperly restricts prosecutors’ ability to exercise their discretion and pursue justice when confronted with an unjust conviction.

A prosecutor’s unique role in the criminal legal system is grounded in a duty to seek justice above all, not merely secure and defend convictions at all costs. That obligation extends to post conviction proceedings, where prosecutors must act when constitutional violations arise that compromise the legitimacy of a case. By rejecting the Philadelphia District Attorney’s decision to waive defenses and decline to defend the conviction, the panel opinion disregarded this fundamental responsibility and disrupted long-established principles that give prosecutors necessary discretion to pursue the interests of justice.

“Addressing convictions that are tainted by constitutional violations should not be optional, it is at the core of prosecutorial responsibility.” said Fair and Just Prosecution Executive Director Aramis Ayala. “Preventing prosecutors from fulfilling this duty perpetuates injustice, is an attack on prosecutorial discretion, and undermines the public’s trust in the legitimacy of the legal system. If this decision stands, innocent people will remain behind bars.”

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August 13, 2025

Fair and Just Prosecution Condemns the Federalization of the Local Police and Deployment of the National Guard in the District of Columbia

Fair and Just Prosecution (FJP) condemns the federalization of the Metropolitan Police Department and deployment of the National Guard in the District of Columbia. This marked escalation in authoritarian tactics undermines not just the public safety and security of D.C., but threatens the safety and rule of law in every jurisdiction that does not support the agenda of the current Administration. 

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