130
Opinion of the Court
ing on Alabama precedent, see, e. g., Murphy v. State, 596 So. 2d 42 (Ala. Crim. App. 1991), cert. denied, 506 U. S. 827 (1992), and Ex parte Murphy, 596 So. 2d 45 (Ala. 1992). The Supreme Court of Alabama denied certiorari, No. 1911717 (Oct. 23, 1992).
We granted certiorari, 508 U. S. 905 (1993), to resolve a question that has created a conflict of authority—whether the Equal Protection Clause forbids peremptory challenges on the basis of gender as well as on the basis of race.1 Today we reaffirm what, by now, should be axiomatic: Intentional discrimination on the basis of gender by state actors violates
1 The Federal Courts of Appeals have divided on the issue. See United States v. De Gross, 913 F. 2d 1417 (CA9 1990), and 960 F. 2d 1433, 1437- 1443 (1992) (en banc) (extending Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U. S. 79 (1986), to prohibit gender-based peremptory challenges in both criminal and civil trials); cf. United States v. Nichols, 937 F. 2d 1257, 1262-1264 (CA7 1991) (declining to extend Batson to gender), cert. denied, 502 U. S. 1080 (1992); United States v. Hamilton, 850 F. 2d 1038, 1042-1043 (CA4 1988) (same), cert. dism'd, 489 U. S. 1094 (1989), and cert. denied, 493 U. S. 1069 (1990); United States v. Broussard, 987 F. 2d 215, 218-220 (CA5 1993) (same).
State courts also have considered the constitutionality of gender-based peremptory challenges. See Laidler v. State, 627 So. 2d 1263 (Fla. App. 1993) (extending Batson to gender); State v. Burch, 65 Wash. App. 828, 830 P. 2d 357 (1992) (same, relying on State and Federal Constitutions); Di Donato v. Santini, 232 Cal. App. 3d 721, 283 Cal. Rptr. 751 (1991), review denied (Cal., Oct. 2, 1991); Tyler v. State, 330 Md. 261, 623 A. 2d 648 (1993) (relying on State Constitution); People v. Mitchell, 228 Ill. App. 3d 917, 593 N. E. 2d 882 (1992) (same), aff'd in part and vacated in relevant part, 155 Ill. 2d 643, 602 N. E. 2d 467 (1993); State v. Gonzales, 111 N. M. 590, 808 P. 2d 40 (App.) (same), cert. denied, 111 N. M. 590, 806 P. 2d 65 (1991); State v. Levinson, 71 Haw. 492, 498-499, 795 P. 2d 845, 849 (1990) (same); People v. Irizarry, 165 App. Div. 2d 715, 560 N. Y. S. 2d 279 (1990) (same); Commonwealth v. Hutchinson, 395 Mass. 568, 570, 481 N. E. 2d 188, 190 (1985) (same); cf. State v. Culver, 293 Neb. 228, 444 N. W. 2d 662 (1989) (refusing to extend Batson to gender); State v. Clay, 779 S. W. 2d 673, 676 (Mo. App. 1989) (same); State v. Adams, 533 So. 2d 1060, 1063 (La. App. 1988) (same), cert. denied, 540 So. 2d 338 (La. 1989); State v. Oliviera, 534 A. 2d 867, 870 (R. I. 1987) (same); Murphy v. State, 596 So. 2d 42 (Ala. Crim. App. 1991) (same), cert. denied, 596 So. 2d 45 (Ala.), cert. denied, 506 U. S. 827 (1992).
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