Washington, DC – The U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in Ramos v. Louisiana, finding that the Sixth Amendment’s guarantee of a unanimous verdict applies to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment’s due process clause. Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, issued the following statement in response:
“Racism infects virtually every stage of our criminal justice system and non-unanimous jury verdict schemes opened the door for disproportionately high rates of convictions of African Americans, particularly in Louisiana,” said Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. “The Court’s decision rightfully recognized and condemns the discriminatory motive underlying Louisiana and Oregon’s long history of permitting non-unanimous jury verdicts which stood as relics from the Jim Crow era. The Court’s ruling will bring these states into alignment with the rest of the country. The question remains as to how many prisoners are entitled to new trials as a result of convictions obtained unconstitutionally. Those who were unconstitutionally convicted deserve relief now because they were denied their right to a trial by jury.”
For more information, contact: press@lawyerscommittee.org
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