Question:
Thomas, William, and Ella McCollum were white defendants facing criminal charges of assault and battery against two African-Americans. Before the trial began, the prosecution requested that the court prohibit these defendants from exercising their peremptory challenges in a racially discriminatory manner. The prosecution claimed that the defendants' attorneys intended to eliminate African-American jurors from the panel through the use of peremptory challenges. The defendants argued that the law prohibiting the state from the discriminatory use of peremptory challenges was necessary to guarantee due process for a criminal defendant, but any restriction on defense use of peremptory challenges would deny defendants the right to a fair trial, The state argued that if it is prohibited from dismissing jurors on racial grounds, the defense should be similarly restrained. How did the court decide?