comparative disparity
comparative disparity. Constitutional law. The percentage of underrepresentation of a particular group among potential jurors on a venire, in comparison with the group’s percentage of the general population. • Comparative disparity is calculated by subtracting a group’s percentage of representation on the venire from the group’s per-centage of the population — that is, calculating the group’s absolute-disparity representation — then dividing that percentage by the group’s percentage-representation in the population, and multiplying the result by 100. For example, if African-Americans make up 12% of a county’s population, and 8% of the potential jurors on the venire, the absolute disparity of African-Americans is 4%. And the comparative disparity is 33%, because 4 divided by 12 is .33, or 33%. Many courts criticize the comparative-disparity analysis, and favor an absolute-disparity analysis, because the comparative-disparity analysis is said to exaggerate the deviation. The reason for calculating the disparity is to analyze a claim that the jury was not impartial because it was not selected from a pool of jurors that fairly represented the makeup of the jurisdiction. See DUREN TEST; FAIR-CROSS-SECTION REQUIREMENT; STATISTICAL-DECISION THEORY Y. Cf. ABSOLUTE DISPARITY. [Cases: Jury 33(1.1). C.J.S. Juries §§ 269–273, 279, 306.]
