The data came from a larger study that investigated jurors' perceptions of voir dire questioning, especially their concerns about privacy. A portion of the research entailed court observation and recordkeeping regarding who was excused and who was selected for trials. Thirteen noncapital felony criminal jury trials in a single county were observed. In the aggregate, there was no association between race and selection for a jury, and there was only a modest relationship between gender and selection; however, the null finding for race masks a pattern of "strikes" by both prosecutors and defense attorneys; whites who were dismissed were most likely to be excused by the defense, and African-Americans were most likely to be dismissed by the prosecutor. A trial-by-trial analysis showed that when disparities between venire and jury composition occurred, the direction usually pointed to overrepresentation of African-Americans and women on juries. Despite limited generalizability, the data suggest the need for a more informed debate about the peremptory challenge's use in modern criminal trials. 36 references