Legislation Filed to Restore Justice to More Than 1,500 Louisianans Convicted by Non-unanimous Juries
NEW ORLEANS – The Promise of Justice Initiative today announced its support of House Bill 346, which would establish an efficient and orderly process to address the unconstitutional non-unanimous jury convictions of more than 1,500 Louisianans who are currently serving time in prison. The legislation, authored by Representative Randal Gaines (D-LaPlace), allows Louisiana to implement its own plan to revisit the unjust convictions ahead of an expected ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court that could dictate how the state should proceed.
“The practice of non-unanimous juries is a shameful relic of Jim Crow that has cast a dark shadow over our state for more than 120 years,” said Representative Randal Gaines. “For generations, disproportionate numbers of Black men have been convicted and sentenced to spend the majority of their lives in prison, with devastating consequences for their families and communities. Louisianans stood together to right this injustice with the passage of Amendment 2, but the work is not done. House Bill 346 will allow us to restore justice to the more than 1,500 people currently incarcerated due to a Jim Crow jury conviction, and finally destroy this relic of Jim Crow once and for all.”
HB 346 would establish an orderly, manageable process of restoring justice. Under the proposal, anyone serving time due to a Jim Crow jury conviction would be allowed to file for post-conviction relief over a three-year period. Once post-conviction relief applications are resolved, prosecutors could seek new trials or offer plea deals to people imprisoned on the basis of Jim Crow jury verdicts.
HB 346 follows through on Amendment 2’s call for the end of non-unanimous jury convictions. The bipartisan coalition behind the amendment’s success has grown to include more lawmakers and supporters who understand the urgency of Louisiana passing its own plan to address retroactivity before the federal government can impose their own solution.
“Louisianans from all parts of the political spectrum came together in support of abolishing the practice of non-unanimous jury convictions and passed Amendment 2 overwhelmingly in 2018,” said Ed Tarpley, former district attorney for Grant Parish. “House Bill 346 follows through on this mandate by restoring justice to those who were convicted by a Jim Crow jury before Amendment 2 became law. The people of Louisiana have demanded this injustice be fully rectified, and this legislation will allow our judicial system to fulfill that promise to our citizens in a just and orderly process.”
The common sense plan laid out in HB 346 is an achievable solution crafted by Louisiana lawmakers to repair one of Louisiana’s most malignant relics of Jim Crow, and answers the fundamental question posed by Justice Brett Kavanaugh: “Why stick by an erroneous precedent that is egregiously wrong as a matter of constitutional law, that allows convictions of some who would not be convicted under the proper constitutional rule, and that tolerates and reinforces a practice that is thoroughly racist in its origins and has continuing racially discriminatory effects?”
The full text of HB 346 is available here.
The use of non-unanimous jury convictions in criminal trials dates back to the dawn of the Jim Crow era in 1898, when white supremacists in Louisiana came together to write a new constitution. For decades, Louisiana and Oregon have been the only two states that allowed people to be convicted of serious crimes without the unanimous consent of a jury. In 2018, 64 percent of Louisiana voters approved Amendment 2, which abolished non-unanimous jury convictions for future felony cases.
Attorneys with PJI are working in partnership with more than 60 pro bono law firms and more than 500 lawyers across the country to restore justice to those still in prison under unconstitutional non-unanimous jury convictions.
CONTACT: Laura Swinford, 314-856-2799, laura@gpsimpact.com