Allen Snyder (lawyer)

Allen Snyder is a lawyer best known for his involvement in the 1995 death penalty case Snyder v. Louisiana. In this case, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the Louisiana Supreme Court had erred in upholding Snyder's death sentence because the trial court violated Batson v. Kentucky by excusing African American jurors based on peremptory strikes motivated by race. The case involved a white defendant convicted of the first-degree murder of his estranged wife's boyfriend. During jury selection, the prosecution used peremptory challenges to strike all five African American prospective jurors. The defense argued this was racially motivated. The Supreme Court ultimately sided with Snyder, vacating his death sentence. The case is frequently cited in legal discussions regarding Batson challenges and racial discrimination in jury selection. Information about Snyder's wider legal career or personal background is relatively scarce in publicly available sources.