In jury selection, lawyers get two kinds of strikes: peremptory challenges, which are capped by rule, and challenges for cause, which are unlimited but require the judge’s approval. How many peremptory strikes each side receives depends on the court and the case. Federal criminal trials give between 3 and 20 per side depending on the severity of the charges. Federal civil trials give 3 per party. State courts set their own numbers, generally landing anywhere from 3 to 20 or more per side.
Federal Criminal Cases
Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 24 sets the counts, and they scale with what the defendant is facing:
- Capital cases: 20 peremptory challenges per side.
- Other felonies (punishable by more than one year): 6 for the government, 10 for the defense.
- Misdemeanors (one year or less): 3 per side.
The felony split is intentional. The defendant is up against the government and stands to lose their liberty, so the defense gets more strikes to help even things out.1Legal Information Institute. Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 24 – Trial Jurors
Federal Civil Cases
Federal civil trials are simpler. Each party gets 3 peremptory challenges. If there are multiple plaintiffs or multiple defendants, the court can treat them as a single party sharing those 3 strikes, or it can grant additional challenges and let them be exercised separately or jointly.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S. Code 1870 – Challenges
State Courts
Every state writes its own rules, and the numbers vary quite a bit. Capital cases in state court commonly allow 12 to 20 strikes per side. Non-capital felonies usually fall somewhere between 5 and 10 per side, and in some states the defense gets more than the prosecution. Misdemeanor cases typically allow 3 to 6 per side. The counts can shift further based on how many defendants there are, whether alternates are being seated, and whether the judge grants extras for a complex case. No single figure covers every courtroom, so a lawyer preparing for trial has to check the rules in the specific jurisdiction where the case is being heard.
Extra Strikes for Alternate Jurors
Longer federal criminal trials use alternate jurors, and each side gets additional peremptory challenges reserved for striking alternates:
- 1 or 2 alternates: 1 additional strike per side.
- 3 or 4 alternates: 2 additional strikes per side.
- 5 or 6 alternates: 3 additional strikes per side.
These extras can only be used against alternates, not regular jurors.1Legal Information Institute. Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 24 – Trial Jurors Federal civil trials no longer use alternates at all. The concept was abolished in 1991, and courts now seat extra jurors from the start and cut the panel down before deliberations begin.3Legal Information Institute. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 47 – Selecting Jurors
When There Are Multiple Defendants
Co-defendants in a federal criminal case share their peremptory challenges jointly by default. In a felony trial, that means two defendants split the same 10 defense strikes unless the judge grants more. The court has discretion to allow extras and to let co-defendants use them separately when their interests genuinely diverge.1Legal Information Institute. Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 24 – Trial Jurors
Federal civil cases work the same way. Multiple plaintiffs or defendants can be treated as one party sharing 3 strikes, or the court can increase the total.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S. Code 1870 – Challenges Judges tend to grant extras when co-parties have conflicting positions and tend to make them share when they are aligned and represented by the same lawyer.
Challenges for Cause Are Unlimited
Peremptory challenges are capped, but challenges for cause are not. A lawyer can ask the judge to remove any number of prospective jurors for reasons that call impartiality into question: knowing one of the parties, having prior knowledge of the case, holding a bias that would prevent fair deliberation, or having a financial interest in the outcome. The judge decides whether each challenge is valid. If the judge disagrees, the juror stays.
In practice, most jurors removed during voir dire come off through challenges for cause, not peremptory strikes. Because there is no numerical limit, lawyers use cause challenges freely before spending their limited peremptories. The tradeoff is that the standard is real: you need an articulable reason, and the judge has to agree.
Who a Peremptory Strike Cannot Target
Peremptory challenges do not require a stated reason, but they are not unrestricted. The Supreme Court held in Batson v. Kentucky (1986) that striking a juror because of race violates the Equal Protection Clause. The Court wrote that the Equal Protection Clause “forbids the prosecutor to challenge potential jurors solely on account of their race or on the assumption that black jurors as a group will be unable impartially to consider the State’s case against a black defendant.”4Justia U.S. Supreme Court Center. Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986)
The Court extended the same rule to gender in J.E.B. v. Alabama (1994), holding that “gender, like race, is an unconstitutional proxy for juror competence and impartiality.”5Legal Information Institute. J.E.B. v. Alabama ex rel. T.B., 511 U.S. 127 (1994) In Flowers v. Mississippi (2019), the Court reinforced the framework, stating that “the Constitution forbids striking even a single prospective juror for a discriminatory purpose.”6Supreme Court of the United States. Flowers v. Mississippi, 588 U.S. 284 (2019)
When one side suspects the other of striking on a protected basis, they can raise a Batson challenge, and the striking lawyer must offer a neutral explanation for the judge to evaluate. Some states have expanded the protected categories beyond race and gender to include religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, and national origin, and at least one state has eliminated peremptory challenges outright. If you are exercising or objecting to a strike, the specific list of protected characteristics depends on the jurisdiction.
What Happens When You Run Out
Once a lawyer has spent every peremptory challenge, any prospective juror who survives a challenge for cause will be seated. That is why trial lawyers treat peremptories like a limited budget. Burning strikes early on marginal jurors can leave you unable to remove someone far more concerning later in the process. Challenges for cause remain available even after peremptories are exhausted, but if the judge rejects the challenge, there is no fallback.