TBA Law Blog

TBA Law Blog

ABA Submits Amicus Brief Calling for SCOTUS to End Nonunanimous Juries

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Jun 19, 2019
News Type: U.S. Supreme Court
The American Bar Association submitted an amicus brief this week to the U.S. Supreme Court arguing that it’s time to extend the Sixth Amendment right to a unanimous jury to the states, the ABA Journal reports. The brief was filed in Ramos v. Louisiana, a criminal appeal the court has accepted for its fall 2019 term. The Sixth Amendment guarantees unanimous jury verdicts in criminal cases; Evangelisto Ramos argues that the justices should apply that to the states using the 14th Amendment. “The court’s precedents on the Sixth Amendment and on incorporation make clear that unanimity is required in state and federal courts alike,” the brief says. “The ABA therefore respectfully submits that the court should bring to an end this unusual and unfortunate aspect of our criminal justice system.”

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