WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on March 31, 2026, in the appeal of Terry Pitchford, a Black death row inmate from Mississippi who claims racial bias in the jury that convicted him. Justices signaled during the hearing that they were likely to rule in Pitchford's favor.

The case bears similarities to the Court's 2019 decision to overturn the death sentence and conviction of Curtis Flowers, another Black man on Mississippi's death row. In that case, the Court found that the prosecution had systematically excluded Black jurors.

Pitchford was 18 years old when he and a friend decided to rob the Crossroads Grocery near Grenada, Mississippi. The friend shot store owner Reuben Britt three times, fatally wounding him. The friend was ineligible for the death penalty because he was younger than 18, while Pitchford was tried for capital murder and sentenced to death.

Former prosecutor Doug Evans, now retired, excused four prospective Black jurors from Pitchford's jury. The jury that sentenced Pitchford to death for his role in the killing included one Black juror.

During oral arguments, Associate Justice Samuel Alito said, "This is the most timid and reticent defense counsel that I have ever encountered." Alito also stated, "The judge didn't handle this the way it should have been handled."

Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh said, "She's trying to make the objections right there." The appeal focuses on whether Pitchford's lawyers adequately objected to rulings by Judge Joseph Loper and whether the Mississippi Supreme Court reasonably ruled they had not.

Mississippi Solicitor General Scott Stewart argued against overturning the conviction, telling the Court, "In Flowers versus Mississippi, this Court faced an extraordinary case and ruled against the state. This case is also extraordinary but in a very different way that requires a very different result."

The case has been making its way through the court system for 20 years. In 2023, U.S. District Judge Michael P. Mills overturned Pitchford's conviction, ruling that the trial judge had not given his lawyers sufficient opportunity to argue that the prosecution was improperly dismissing Black jurors. Mills wrote that his ruling was partially motivated by Evans's actions in prior cases.

A unanimous panel of the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed Mills's decision. Kavanaugh noted Mills's experience during oral arguments, stating, "Mills is a very experienced district judge. He had been a former Mississippi Supreme Court justice. He knows what he's doing."

In Batson v. Kentucky, decided 40 years ago, the Supreme Court ruled that jurors could not be excused from service because of their race and established a system for trial judges to evaluate discrimination claims and prosecutors' race-neutral explanations. The Court's ruling in Pitchford's case will determine whether his conviction stands.