BATON ROUGE – The American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana issued the following statement regarding the passage of Senate Bill 243, which will place a referendum on the ballot to abolish Louisiana’s non-unanimous jury rule. Louisiana is one of just two states where people can be convicted of a felony with a less-than-unanimous jury.
“Louisiana’s non-unanimous jury rule is a stain on our criminal justice system and an affront to the principle that people are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt,” said ACLU of Louisiana interim executive director Jane Johnson. “Today’s historic vote is a long-overdue step towards restoring justice and removing this harmful vestige of white supremacy. We thank the members of the Legislature, and especially Sen. Jean-Paul Morrell, for their bipartisan work to give Louisianans the opportunity to end this harmful rule and restore the right to unanimous juries.”
