Professor Larson Comments for National Public Radio on U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Decision

Professor Carlton Larson contributed comments to a report on National Public Radio's All Things Considered on a recent U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruling concerning sexual orientation and juror selection. In SmithKline Beecham Corp. v. Abbott Laboratories, a three-judge panel ruled unanimously that using a peremptory challenge to strike a juror on the basis of sexual orientation violates the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause. The ruling, Professor Larson said, may have implications for future cases involving discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

"It would mean that it would become almost impossible to justify any laws that negatively affect gays and lesbians," Larson says. "And the primary ones, of course, would be laws restricting same-sex marriage."

Carlton Larson's research interests focus on constitutional law and legal history, with a strong emphasis on the 18th century.

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