0n the day of the trial, there may be as many as one hundred and fifty jurors called for examination and selection. Out of that one hundred and fifty, twelve will be selected as the jurors to try the case, with two alternates. The hundred and fifty called, however, represented only a small percentage of the number of persons eligible for jury service. The one hundred and fifty, or smaller or greater number called for a particular case are referred to as the "panel", and are selected from the jury lists of the County or Federal district in which the Court is located. Local laws, rules or regulations usually determine the number of jurors whose names are to be maintained on the jury list. The names on the jury list are usually selected from the registered and qualified voters, and the list checked at regular intervals to replace those who have died, moved away, or for some other reason become ineligible.

Citizens who are selected for the jury list may be selected merely by having their names taken from the list of qualified voters, and being summoned to appear on a particular day, or they may be requested to appear

The defense deserves the right to a trial as fair and impartial as possible. Random selections do not allow attorneys to identify possible bias due to past experiences. Through voir dire certain biases by the juror can be detected and removed. A person may not want to admit their prejudices against a certain group of people because of embarrassment, but peremptory challenges allow lawyers to dismiss those who are ambivalent about certain questions. Abolishing peremptory challenges may not setup for the perfect jury, but it is a start.

After the excuses have been disposed of, the jurors will be called to the witness stand or to the jury box to be examined under oath with respect to their fitness and qualifications to serve as jurors in the case about to be tried. This preliminary examination, at the trial, is referred to as the "voir dire" examination. It usually covers all matters, which tend to affect the ability of the juror to serve in the case, such as friend ship or hostility to either of the parties, personal acquaintance with one of the prospective witnesses, or an aversion to the type of case being tried. In some states each juror is placed in the witness chair, and after being sworn to answer truthfully the questions asked of him, is interrogated, and at times is furnished with information which will enable him to answer the questions asked of him. In other jurisdiction, twelve jurors are placed in the jury box simultaneously, and are then questioned. In most state courts the lawyer for the opposing side conduct the examination, and ask the questions, and the lawyers are free to suggest to the judge questions to be asked of particular jurors, or of the panel in general.

--The defendants may rely on the fact that peremptory challenges are a jury selection practice which allow those who are minded to discriminate to do so

This process is important because it may reveal a juror could not conscientiously serve as a juror, or that there is some reason why he would not make a good juror. If, for example the prospective juror has been a friend of many years standing of the defendant, he could not be expected to judge impartially. On the other hand, if he him self has been injured in an automobile accident, he might be unduly sympathetic to the plaintiff in such a case. In criminal cases the lawyers will inquire whether the jurors have ever been the victims of a crime, since a man whose house had been burglarized might be prejudice in the trial of a defendant accused of the crime of burglary.

Peremptory challenges have become "a cloak for discrimination" and should be abolished, former Philadelphia Bar Association Chancellor Andre L Dennis told the city Human Relations Commission at a hearing on racial bias in the court system on October 13, 1998. And Wanda E. Flowers, co-chair of the bar association task force, called for greater awareness of "subtle racism which leads to unconscious discriminatory conduct" (The Legal Intelligencer, Oct., 1998). Many lawyers conclude that the peremptory challenges are long, drawn out, and arbitrary. An impartial jury is not the goal during voir dire. Attorneys are looking for people who are most likely to convict or not to convict. Peremptory challenges take away from the "jury of one's peers". Sifting through people to find the most qualified is not taking a random sample of the community.

altogether. No decision has been made yet, but opinions have been widely spread on the matter.

Many attorneys and legal scholars claim that an impartial jury is unattainable. The first step taken was to define peremptory challenges with more alertness to possible bias. The next step up for debate is whether the 200 year old tradition should be eliminated

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