The California Supreme Court is ask­ing the state’s attor­ney gen­er­al’s office to explain why Fred Freeman’s death sen­tence should not be reversed on alle­ga­tions that a now-deceased Superior Court Judge col­lud­ed with pros­e­cu­tors to ensure a cap­i­tal con­vic­tion by elim­i­nat­ing poten­tial Jewish jurors. The Supreme Court issued the show cause order after Freeman’s attor­neys filed a claim stat­ing that Freeman was denied a fair tri­al because Judge Stanley Golde alleged­ly told pros­e­cu­tors to keep Jews off the jury because they would nev­er vote to send some­one to the gas cham­ber. Prosecutor John Quatman took Golde’s advice and lat­er acknowl­edged in a dec­la­ra­tion that it was also ​“stan­dard prac­tice” at the time of Freeman’s tri­al to exclude black women from death penal­ty juries. At the time of his death in 1998, Golde was believed to have hand­ed down more death sen­tences that any oth­er judge in his coun­ty and pos­si­bly the state. (New York Lawyer, July 30, 2004). See Race.

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