Powers v. Ohio, 499 U.S. 400 (1991), was a United States Supreme Court case that re-examined the Batson Challenge.

Powers expanded the jurisdictions of this principle, allowing all parties within a case, defendants especially, to question preemptory challenges during a jury selection, regardless of race.

[6] Following his conviction, Powers went to the Ohio Court of Appeals under the belief that his Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment rights were infringed upon.

[9] This case found that the Sixth Amendment did not prevent jury selectors from excluding potential jurors on the basis of race.

Justice Anthony Kennedy delivered the following statement in regards to this: "Invoking the Equal Protection Clause and federal statutory law, and relying upon well-established principles of standing, we [the Supreme Court of the United States] hold that a criminal defendant may object to race-based exclusions of jurors effected through peremptory challenges whether or not the defendant and the excluded jurors share the same race.

"[1] Additionally, the Supreme Court concluded that "discriminatory use of peremptories harms the excluded jurors by depriving them of a significant opportunity to participate in civil life.

"[11] The Powers decision re-examined this provision and established that defendants have the right to call out and question racial discrimination in the courtroom regardless of a difference in race.

[6] The Court's majority opinion explained, "if for any reason the State is unable to reconvict Powers for the double murder at issue here, later victims may pay the price for our extravagance...crime would go unpunished and criminals go free."