Whether the district court's refusal to probe potential jurors for bias or prejudice was an abuse of discretion under Rule 47(a)

QUESTIONS PRESENTED This petition brings to the Court an issue for which there is substantial need for clear direction: a trial court’s obligation to obtain for litigants a jury free from bias; in this instance, racial and other biases in a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 suit. Through trial by jury, society pursues impartial justice. Through voir dire, jury trials pursue impartial jurors. The former, of course, hinging on the latter. The arc of the American story is wedded to this principle: impartial adjudication of disputes requires impartial adjudicators. The questions presented are: 1. Whether the district court’s refusal to probe potential jurors for bias or prejudice was an abuse of discretion under Rule 47(a). 2. Whether the district court’s questioning of the jurors was insufficient under the Due Process Clause.