Does what happens in the jury room stay in the jury room?

The U.S. Supreme Court takes up that question Tuesday in the case of a Hispanic man from Colorado who was convicted after a juror said during deliberations, “I think he did it because he’s Mexican.”

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But Jeffrey Fisher of Stanford Law School, who represents Peña-Rodriguez, said racial bias in the jury room can never been excused.

“When a defendant’s life or liberty is at stake, there is no valid interest in creating breathing space for jurors to argue that a defendant should be convicted because of his race.”