Ramos v. Louisiana

Ramos v. Louisiana, 590 U.S. 83 (2020), is a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court.

Evangelisto Ramos was convicted of murder by a 10-2 jury verdict in Louisiana. Louisiana and Oregon were the only states that permitted non-unanimous jury verdicts in criminal cases. Ramos challenged his conviction, arguing that the Sixth Amendment requires unanimous jury verdicts for conviction in both federal and state courts.

Significance

Justice Gorsuch’s 6-3 opinion held that the Sixth Amendment requires unanimous jury verdicts in all criminal trials, incorporated against the states through the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court overruled Apodaca v. Oregon (1972) and a Louisiana precedent, finding that the historical understanding of the right to trial by jury included unanimity. The decision eliminated non-unanimous jury verdicts nationwide and affected thousands of convictions in Louisiana and Oregon.

Category

US Federal Case Law