Let me begin by saying that the views I express are my own.

I am now serving my 20th and last term on the New Jersey Supreme Court. In the 25 years before I became a judge, I tried approximately 60 cases before juries—as a prosecutor and criminal defense lawyer, as a plaintiff’s lawyer and civil defense attorney. In all that time, I never met an attorney interested in picking a fair jury. Every attorney I knew wanted to use peremptory challenges to select a jury that would favor his or her case. Every attorney wanted a partial—not an impartial—jury.