This story is free to read.

EXPLAINER: What is the impact of racially diverse juries?

FILE - In this Feb. 8, 2021 file photo, A mural of George Floyd is seen in George Floyd Square in Minneapolis. The city of Minneapolis on Friday, March, 12, 2021, agreed to pay $27 million to settle a civil lawsuit from George Floyd's family over the Black man's death in police custody, as jury selection continued in a former officer's murder trial. The settlement includes $500,000 for the south Minneapolis neighborhood that includes the 38th and Chicago intersection that has been blocked by barricades since his death, with a massive metal sculpture and murals in his honor. (AP Photo/Jim Mone File) FILE - In this Feb. 8, 2021 file photo, A mural of George Floyd is seen in George Floyd Square in Minneapolis. The city of Minneapolis on Friday, March, 12, 2021, agreed to pay $27 million to settle a civil lawsuit from George Floyd's family over the Black man's death in police custody, as jury selection continued in a former officer's murder trial. The settlement includes $500,000 for the south Minneapolis neighborhood that includes the 38th and Chicago intersection that has been blocked by barricades since his death, with a massive metal sculpture and murals in his honor. (AP Photo/Jim Mone File)

By MICHAEL TARM / Associated Press March 17, 2021 3 min read

CHICAGO (AP) – Questions around race have been central to the murder case against the former Minneapolis police officer who leaned on George Floyd’s neck while the Black man pleaded for air.

Of the six men and three women selected through Monday for Derek Chauvin’s jury, five are white, one is multiracial, two are Black and one is Hispanic. They range in age from their 20s to their 50s.

Scholars, courts and legal groups have increasingly advocated for greater jury diversity – not just of race, but of gender and socioeconomic backgrounds – as a way to make trials fairer.

DOES THE U.S. CONSTITUTION REQUIRE DIVERSE JURIES?

Not directly. But the Constitution does guarantee a trial “by an impartial jury,” widely interpreted to mean juries that reflect the community where the alleged crimes occurred rather than just a narrow segment of it.