On Monday, April 20th, the supreme court ruled that in order for a defendant to be convicted in serious crimes the jury ruling must be unanimous, according to the Washington Post,.  This applies to state and federal courts, according to Slate. Louisiana and Oregon are the only states that allow non-unanimous during recent years. Justice Neil Gorsuch said that those laws were rooted in racism, according to the New York Times. Citing that on  The decision was ruled 6 to 3. The New York Times says  The Supreme Court has long held that non-unanimous verdicts are forbidden under the Sixth Amendment in federal criminal trials.

This means that the case of the Ramos vs Louisiana will most likely be revisited and have a new trial according ot NBC news.. Evangelisto Ramos was found guilty of murder in 2016 and convicted with life in prison without parole, according to the Washington Post. The vote from jury 10 to 2, as stated by the New York Times.  CNN reports that Ramos he indicated that  Louisiana’s non-unanimous jury provision violated his federal constitutional right to trial by jury and that the law had racist roots meant to diminish the votes of minority jurors.

The 86 pages of dissents  or object were written, according to NPR. The pages were about when should the supreme court its regular rules on precedent or earlier laws. Now that the court is more conservative, they will have very different views on things such as abortion and voting rights.

Photo courtesy of flickr.com