Former New Orleans mayor supports unanimous verdicts
5th November 2018 · 0 Comments
By Ryan Whirty
Contributing Writer
Former New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial last week said he hopes the bi-partisan movement to abolish non-unanimous jury verdicts in Louisiana can serve as a model of unity amidst the sharp divisions in our country.
Morial spoke at the Urban League of Louisiana headquarters on Carrollton last Wednesday while he was in town as the president and CEO of the National Urban League, which was part of a gathering in New Orleans last week.
On Election Day Tuesday, Nov. 6, Louisiana voters will decide the fate of Amendment 2, a proposed change to the state constitution that would require unanimous jury decisions for all non-capital felony cases. Currently, Louisiana law allows guilty verdicts of 10-2 or 11-1 for such trials.
Morial said the current system traces back to the late 19th-century when the proliferation of segregation laws in the wake of the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson U.S. Supreme Court decision led to a drastic restricting of African-American rights and established the oppressive reign of Jim Crow law in the South.
The ensuing Louisiana State Constitution of 1898 codified many of the segregation laws, within the court system. The so-called “split” verdicts were further reinforced by the 1974 state constitution. (Only one other state—Oregon, of all places—allows non-unanimous juries.)
“This is not a system that has always been a part of the Louisiana landscape,” Morial said of non-unanimous verdicts. “It was instituted as part of a new system in 1898.”
Noting that the current state verdict law disproportionately affects Black citizens, Morial said split verdicts are a painful remnant of the effects of segregation that linger to this day. For that reason, he said, Amendment 2 must pass on Tuesday to create a more just legal system in Louisiana.
“This is Louisiana stepping out from the dark past into a brighter future,” he said.
The pro-Amendment 2 movement represents a broad coalition of activists from across the political spectrum. In addition to progressive groups like the Urban League and the Innocence Project of New Orleans that have long battled for justice in the court system, many constituencies on the right—such as Evangelical Christians and fiscal conservatives who believe unanimous verdicts will conserve public funds and taxpayer revenue—have joined with organizations on the left to form the Amendment 2 coalition.
Last week U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, one of two Republicans who represent Louisiana in the federal Senate, threw his weight behind the movement, joining such disparate but unified organizations as the Catholic Church, the conservative Louisiana Family Forum and the ACLU of Louisiana, as well as several high-profile district attorneys from around the state.
Other local groups are excited that someone with clout like Morial has voiced his backing for the Amendment 2 effort.
“We’re thrilled how such a respected voice in the community supports this,” said Jee Park, executive director of the Innocence Project of New Orleans, later last week. “What [Morial] said is exactly right. This movement, that has gotten so many people behind, it just represents stepping away from Louisiana history and a force of people together to change the future.”
“We’re hoping [Morial’s support] will help us to the finish line” on Election Day, she added.
Morial said at last week’s press conference that the broad Amendment 2 coalition, if successful, could hopefully serve as an example of unity that defies, even in a small way, the extreme division, distrust and anger that currently tears apart our country. While so many bicker, fight and sling hatred on a local and national scale, Morial hopes the Louisiana coalition can serve as a more productive, cooperative way forward in the future.
“This is a silver lining amidst the awful climate of hate and division,” Morial said. “It demonstrates what you can do when you work toward a meeting of the minds.”
Also speaking during last week’s press conference at the Urban League of Louisiana was Norris Henderson, the statewide director of the Unanimous Jury Coalition, one of the key members of the Amendment 2 movement.
Henderson, who was wrongly convicted by a non-unanimous jury and spent 27 years in Angola prison before being exonerated and released 2003, said the Amendment 2 vote represents an inspiring nexus of enthusiasm and timing that has all converged for justice.
“This is where the stars really align,” said Henderson, who also co-founded the Voice of the Experienced and serves as its executive director.
“This has really unified people across the state in this position,” Henderson added. “This is our shot, an opportunity to roll back 135 years of an oppressive law. We have a real opportunity to change this once and for all.”
Both Henderson and Morial added that the Amendment 2 effort will become part of a larger movement in Louisiana and across the country that pursues further and wider criminal justice reform in the future.
Morial said endeavors as bail reform can hopefully spring from the current jury verdicts effort and become a broader effort on the part of “people who recognize that the criminal justice system in the United States is broken.”
“This is another step in the long road to reforming the American criminal justice system,” he added. “This is not the end. This is just another big step.”
This article originally published in the November 5, 2018 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
