Louisiana Amendment 2, Unanimous Jury Verdict for Felony Trials Amendment (2018)

Elections in Louisiana, 2018

• Primary election: Nov. 6
• General election: Dec. 8
• Voter registration deadline: Oct. 9
• Early voting: Oct. 23 - Oct. 30
• Absentee voting deadline: Nov. 5

• Online registration: Yes
• Same-day registration: No
• Voter ID: Photo ID required
• Poll times: 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

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Louisiana Amendment 2
Election date November 6, 2018
Topic Civil and criminal trials
Status a Approved
Type Constitutional amendment	Origin State legislature
List of Louisiana measuresLouisiana Amendment 1Louisiana Amendment 2Louisiana Amendment 3Louisiana Amendment 4Louisiana Amendment 5Louisiana Amendment 6Submit

Louisiana Amendment 2, the Unanimous Jury Verdict for Felony Trials Amendment, was on the ballot in Louisiana as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 6, 2018. It was approved.

A "yes" vote supported this amendment to require the unanimous agreement of jurors, rather than just 10 of 12 jurors, to convict people charged with felonies.

A "no" vote opposed this amendment to require the unanimous agreement of jurors, rather than just 10 of 12 jurors, to convict people charged with felonies.

Election results

Louisiana Amendment 2
Result		Votes	Percentage
Yes		938,182	64.35%
No		519,731	35.65%

Results are officially certified.

Source

Overview

What did this ballot measure change about convictions?

Amendment 2 required the unanimous agreement of jurors to convict people charged with felonies. As of 2018, Louisiana required the agreement of 10 of 12, or 83 percent, jurors to convict people charged with felonies. Amendment 2 did not affect juries for offenses that were committed before January 1, 2019.

Do other states allow for non-unanimous jury convictions?

As of 2018, Louisiana was one of two states—the other being Oregon—that does not require the unanimous agreement of jurors to convict people charged with felonies. Oregon did, however, require unanimous convictions in murder trials.

Have the courts addressed the non-unanimous juries rule?

In Apodaca v. Oregon (1972), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution required unanimous juries to convict persons in federal criminal trials, but that the Fourteenth Amendment did not extend the requirement of unanimous juries to state criminal trials.

Aftermath

See also: Ramos v. Louisiana (2020)

In 2016, Evangelisto Ramos was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment on a 10 to 12 jury verdict. He appealed his conviction to the Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal, arguing his conviction by a non-unanimous jury violated his federal constitutional rights. The court of appeal affirmed Ramos' conviction and sentence. The Louisiana Supreme Court denied review. On March 18, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case.

On April 20, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal's decision in a 6-3 ruling, holding "if the Sixth Amendment’s right to a jury trial requires a unanimous verdict to support a conviction in federal court, it requires no less in state court." In its ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court overruled a 1972 SCOTUS case, Apodaca v. Oregon, which ruled that the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution required unanimous juries to convict persons in federal criminal trials, but that the Fourteenth Amendment did not extend the requirement of unanimous juries to state criminal trials.

Prior to the adoption of Amendment 2, Louisiana and Oregon were the only two states that allowed non-unanimous verdicts. Ramos also overturned Oregon Measure 2 (1934), which allowed non-unanimous verdicts in all criminal trials, except first-degree murder trials. Writing the opinion for the Court, Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote, "Courts in both Louisiana and Oregon have frankly acknowledged that race was a motivating factor in the adoption of their States’ respective nonunanimity rules." The Court’s majority acknowledged the potential number of cases challenging non-unanimous jury verdicts in Louisiana and Oregon but determined that the inconvenience and expense of retrial did not justify withholding the Sixth Amendment’s protections from state criminal trials.

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title was as follows:

“

Do you support an amendment to require a unanimous jury verdict in all noncapital felony cases for offenses that are committed on or after January 1, 2019? (Amends Article I, Section 17(A))

”

Constitutional changes

See also: Article I, Louisiana Constitution

Amendment 2 amended Section 17(A) of Article I of the Louisiana Constitution. The following underlined text was added and struck-through text was deleted:

(A) Jury Trial in Criminal Cases.

A criminal case in which the punishment may be capital shall be tried before a jury of twelve persons, all of whom must concur to render a verdict. A case for an offense committed prior to January 1, 2019, in which the punishment is necessarily confinement at hard labor shall be tried before a jury of twelve persons, ten of whom must concur to render a verdict. A case for an offense committed on or after January 1, 2019, in which the punishment is necessarily confinement at hard labor shall be tried before a jury of twelve persons, all of whom must concur to render a verdict. A case in which the punishment may be confinement at hard labor or confinement without hard labor for more than six months shall be tried before a jury of six persons, all of whom must concur to render a verdict. The accused shall have a right to full voir dire examination of prospective jurors and to challenge jurors peremptorily. The number of challenges shall be fixed by law. Except in capital cases, a defendant may knowingly and intelligently waive his right to a trial by jury but no later than forty-five days prior to the trial date and the waiver shall be irrevocable.

Readability score

See also: Ballot measure readability scores, 2018

Using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL and Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) formulas, Ballotpedia scored the readability of the ballot title and summary for this measure. Readability scores are designed to indicate the reading difficulty of text. The Flesch-Kincaid formulas account for the number of words, syllables, and sentences in a text; they do not account for the difficulty of the ideas in the text. The state legislature wrote the ballot language for this measure. The FKGL for the ballot title is grade level 17, and the FRE is 19. The word count for the ballot title is 25, and the estimated reading time is 6 seconds. In 2018, for the 167 statewide measures on the ballot, the average ballot title or question was written at a level appropriate for those with between 19 and 20 years of U.S. formal education (graduate school-level of education), according to the FKGL formula. Read Ballotpedia's entire 2018 ballot language readability report here.

Support

The Yes on Two Ballot Committee, also known as the Unanimous Jury Coalition, led the campaign in support of Amendment 2.

Supporters

Officials

• Gov. John Bel Edwards (D)

Former officials

• New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial (D)

Parties

• Louisiana Democratic Party
• Louisiana Republican Party

Organizations

The following organizations were part of the Unanimous Jury Coalition:

• The Juror Project
• Justice and Accountability Center of Louisiana
• Anti-Defamation League
• Converge
• Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
• American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana
• SEIU
• Courtwatch NOLA
• Promise of Justice Initiative
• Voice of the Experienced
• Southern Poverty Law Center
• The Welcoming Project
• VERA
• Innocence Project New Orleans
• Orleans Public Defenders
• The Power Coalition

The following organizations were listed as endorsements in support of Amendment 2:

• American Civil Liberties Union
• American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana
• Americans for Prosperity, Louisiana
• Anti-Defamation League
• Converge
• Courtwatch NOLA
• Independent Women’s Organization
• Innocence Project New Orleans
• Interfaith Coalition for Justice
• Justice and Accountability Center of Louisiana
• Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
• Louisiana Conference of Catholic Bishops
• Louisiana Family Forum
• Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus
• Louisiana Progress
• Open Society Foundations
• Orleans Public Defenders
• Our Revolution
• Promise of Justice Initiative
• Southern Poverty Law Center
• The Juror Project
• The Power Coalition
• The Welcoming Project
• Urban League of Louisiana
• VERA

Unions

• SEIU

Individuals

• John Legend, musician

Arguments

• Ed Tarpley, former district attorney of Grant Parish, Louisiana, said the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution implied that a unanimous verdict was needed to make convictions. He stated, "How can you say a person has been convicted and found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt when one or two of the jurors says, ‘No, I have reasonable doubt.'"
• Sen. Dan Claitor (R-16), who voted for the amendment in the state Senate, said, "You can make the argument this favors racism; it's crazy we're considering this on a day we're celebrating Martin Luther King. ... Is 10 out of 12 good enough for your children? Is 10 out of 12 good enough for your wife? Is 10 out of 12 good enough for your neighbor? It's crazy."
• Sen. Jean-Paul J. Morrell (D-3), the amendment's legislative sponsor, stated, "This is something that is wholly unnecessary that was born of this fusion of racism and disenfranchisement. It’s a self-defeating, illogical position to have two jurors say ‘we don’t think he did it,’ then prosecutors to say we met our reasonable doubt standard."

Opposition

Opponents

• Attorney General Jeff Landry (R)

Arguments

• Pete Adams, executive director of the Louisiana District Attorneys Association, said the amendment would result in more hung juries and expensive retrials. He stated, "In today’s society, getting 80 percent of people in any group to agree on any topic is a phenomenal task. Everyone’s in their corner. More so than ever, people take their agendas into the courtroom. You’re inviting jury nullification."
• Wilbur 'Bill' Stiles III, the Chief Deputy Attorney General of Louisiana, said, "the non-unanimous jury law has a positive effect on the criminal justice system in Louisiana. We believe it makes for quicker and easier administration of the system. I think it makes for a more relaxed, less intense voir dire. You don’t have to worry that you might miss that one guy … and that you can still have a successful prosecution. We live in an era where some people think everything a cop does is wrong. Anecdotally, I’ve had cases where people are on video committing a crime, and a juror says, ‘I can’t convict this person.’ Our system prevents someone from attempting to sway a jury by holding out."

Campaign finance

See also: Campaign finance requirements for Louisiana ballot measures

Total campaign contributions:
Support:	$2,151,940.07
Opposition:	$0.00

There was one campaign committee, the Yes On Two Ballot Committee, registered in support of Amendment 2. The committee had raised $2.15 million and spent $2.15 million.

The top contributor to the Yes On Two Ballot Committee was the Tides Advocacy Fund, which contributed $485,842.

There were no committees registered to oppose the ballot measure.

Support

The following were contribution and expenditure totals for the committee supporting the measure.

Committees in support of Amendment 2 Supporting committees Cash contributions In-kind services Cash expenditures Yes On Two Ballot Committee $1,331,276.78 $820,663.29 $1,326,453.73 Total $1,331,276.78 $820,663.29 $1,326,453.73

Totals in support Total raised: $2,151,940.07 Total spent: $2,147,117.02

Donors

The following were the top five donors who contributed to support campaign:

Donor	Cash	In-kind	Total
Tides Advocacy Fund	$100,000.00	$385,841.50	$485,841.50
Open Society Foundations	$420,000.00	$0.00	$420,000.00
FWD.us	$400,000.00	$0.00	$400,000.00
ACLU	$300,000.00	$7,729.00	$307,729.00
V.O.T.E.	$0.00	$273,189.59	$273,189.59

Methodology

To read Ballotpedia's methodology for covering ballot measure campaign finance information, click here.

Reporting dates

In Louisiana, ballot measure committees filed a total of three campaign finance reports in 2018. The filing dates for reports were as follows:

2018 campaign finance reporting dates
Date	Report	Period
10/09/2018	Report #1	Through 9/27/2018
10/29/2018	Report #2	9/28/2018 - 10/17/2018
12/17/2018	Report #3	10/18/2018 - 12/06/2018
2/15/2019	Report #4	12/07/2018 - 2/15/2019

Media editorials

Support

• The Times-Picayune: "Our state is an outlier in allowing non-unanimous juries in most felonies. The federal court system and every state except Oregon require unanimous verdicts in felony cases. There's a reason they do: a commitment to justice. ... It is long past time for Louisiana to correct this unjust law. Vote "yes" for Amendment 2."

Opposition

Ballotpedia did not find any media editorial boards opposing Amendment 2. If you are aware of an editorial, please email it to editor@ballotpedia.org.

Background

History of non-unanimous juries in Louisiana

Between 1812 and 1898, the state of Louisiana required unanimous juries to convict persons for felonies in state criminal trials. In 1898, Louisiana held a state constitutional convention, which decided on an amendment to allow 9-3 verdicts for serious felonies. E.B. Kruttschnitt, who headed the convention, said the change was to "relieve the parishes of the enormous burden of costs in criminal trials." Kruttschnitt said the convention’s goal was to find “the solution of the question of the purification of the electorate” and eliminate “the mass of corrupt and illiterate voters who have during the last quarter of a century degraded our politics.”

Lawrence Powell, a historian at Tulane University, noted that the non-unanimous verdicts amendment was not recorded in the convention’s official journal. He said the amendment attempted to give the white majority more power on juries than racial minorities. Powell stated, “They were very cryptic, and it was almost self-consciously racially neutral. They had to use stratagems and ruses.”

In 1973, Louisiana held another state constitutional convention, which increased the requirement for non-unanimous verdicts from 9-3 to 10-2. Chris Roy, a delegate who supported the proposal, said, “My point ... is that if the rest of the United States can require unanimous verdicts and the federal system can require unanimous verdicts, why can't we in Louisiana require at least five-sixths verdicts to convict?" The convention adopted the proposal as part of a new constitution, which voters approved in 1974.

U.S. Supreme Court on non-unanimous juries for criminal trials

In Apodaca v. Oregon (1972), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution required unanimous juries to convict persons in federal criminal trials, but that the Fourteenth Amendment did not extend the requirement of unanimous juries to state criminal trials.

The U.S. Supreme Court's nine justices were divided 4-1-4 in Apodaca v. Oregon. The two groups of four justices agreed that the Sixth Amendment applied to both federal trials and state trials; however, the first group concluded that the Sixth Amendment did not require unanimous juries for either federal trials or state trials and the second group concluded that the Sixth Amendment did require unanimous juries for both federal trials and state trials. Justice Lewis Powell, writing alone in the court's opinion, determined the court's ruling.

Criminal justice ballot measures in 2018

Voting on Law Enforcement
Ballot Measures
By state
By year
Not on ballot
Local Measures

Voters considered ballot measures addressing criminal justice in nine states in 2018. In Georgia, Kentucky, Nevada, North Carolina, and Oklahoma voters decided amendments known as Marsy's Law, a set of constitutional protections for crime victims. The remaining criminal justice ballot measures included:

• Florida Amendment 4, Voting Rights Restoration for Felons Initiative (2018) (a): The committee Floridians for a Fair Democracy collected more than the required 766,200 signatures to get Amendment 4 placed on the ballot. The measure was designed to automatically restore the right to vote for people with prior felony convictions, except those convicted of murder or a felony sexual offense, upon completion of their sentences, including prison, parole, and probation.

• Louisiana Amendment 2, Unanimous Jury Verdict for Felony Trials Amendment (2018) (a): The Louisiana State Legislature referred Amendment 2 to the general election ballot. Amendment 2 required the unanimous agreement of jurors to convict people charged with felonies. As of 2018, Louisiana required the agreement of 10 of 12, or 83 percent, jurors to convict people charged with felonies. Prior to Amendment 2, Louisiana was one of two states—the other being Oregon—that does not require the unanimous agreement of jurors to convict people charged with felonies.

• Ohio Issue 1, Drug and Criminal Justice Policies Initiative (2018) (d): Issue 1, according to the measure's statement of purpose, was designed to reduce the number of people in state prisons for low-level, nonviolent crimes, such as drug possession and non-criminal probation violations. The initiative would have made the possession, obtainment, and use of drugs no more than a misdemeanor; prohibited courts from ordering persons on probation for felonies be sent to prison for non-criminal probation violations; created a sentence credits program for inmates' participation in rehabilitative, work, or educational programs; and required the state to spend savings due to a reduction of inmates, resulting from Issue 1, on drug treatment, crime victim, and rehabilitation programs. The Ohio Safe and Healthy Communities Campaign collected signatures to get the initiative on the ballot.

• Washington Initiative 940, Police Training and Criminal Liability in Cases of Deadly Force Measure (2018) (a): Initiative 940 created a good faith test to determine when the use of deadly force by police is justifiable, required police to receive de-escalation and mental health training, and required law enforcement officers to provide first aid. De-Escalate Washington collected signatures for the ballot initiative.

Constitutional amendments on Louisiana ballots

From 1995 through 2017, the Louisiana State Legislature referred 179 constitutional amendments to the ballot. Voters approved 133 and rejected 46 of the referred amendments. Most of the amendments (115 of 179) were referred to the ballot for elections during even-numbered election years. The average number of amendments appearing on an even-year ballot was between 10 and 11. The approval rate at the ballot box was 74.3 percent during the 22-year period from 1995 through 2017. The rejection rate was 25.7 percent. In 2017, there were three referred amendments on the ballot. In 2016, there were six amendments.

Legislatively-referred constitutional amendments, 1995-2017
Total number	Approved	Percent approved	Defeated	Percent defeated	Even-year average	Even-year median	Even-year minimum	Even-year maximum
179	133	74.30%	46	25.70%	10.45	9.00	4	21

Path to the ballot

See also: Amending the Louisiana Constitution

In Louisiana, a two-thirds vote in both chambers of the Louisiana State Legislature during one legislative session is required to refer a constitutional amendment to the ballot. Louisiana is one of 16 states that require a two-thirds supermajority in each chamber of the legislature.

Sen. Jean-Paul J. Morrell (D-3) filed the amendment in the Louisiana State Legislature as Senate Bill 243 (SB 243) on March 1, 2018.

On April 4, 2018, the Louisiana State Senate approved SB 243 in a vote of 27 to 10 with two members absent, meaning the amendment cleared the chamber with one more vote than required.

On May 14, 2018, the Louisiana House of Representatives passed an amended version of SB 243 in a vote of 84 to 15 with six members absent. The amendment needed 71 votes to pass. As the state House amended SB 243, a concurrence vote was needed in the state Senate.

On May 15, 2018, the state Senate approved the final version of SB 243 in a vote of 28 to seven with four members absent.

Vote in the Louisiana House of Representatives May 14, 2018
Requirement: Two-thirds (66.67 percent) vote of all members in each chamber
Number of yes votes required: 71  a
	Yes	No	Not voting
Total	84	15	6
Total percent	80.00%	14.29%	5.71%
Democrat	37	1	3
Republican	45	13	3
Independent	2	1	0

Vote in the Louisiana State Senate May 15, 2018
Requirement: Two-thirds (66.67 percent) vote of all members in each chamber
Number of yes votes required: 26  a
	Yes	No	Not voting
Total	28	7	4
Total percent	71.79%	17.95%	10.26%
Democrat	10	1	3
Republican	18	6	1

How to cast a vote

See also: Voting in Louisiana

Poll times

In Louisiana, polls are open from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Central time for Tuesday elections. For Saturday elections, polls open at 7:00 a.m. If the polls close while a voter is in line, he or she will still be permitted to vote.

Registration requirements

Check your voter registration status here.

To vote in Louisiana, one must provide documentary proof of United States citizenship and be a resident of the state and parish in which they register. A voter must be at least 18 years old by Election Day.

Registration completed via mail or in person must occur at least 30 days before Election Day. Registration completed online must occur at least 20 days before Election Day. Registrants must present a valid form of identification to register. Pre-registration is available beginning at age 16.

Voters may register in person at any Registrar of Voters office or any of the following places:

• Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles
• Louisiana Department of Social Services
• WIC offices
• Food stamp offices
• Medicaid offices
• Offices and agencies serving people with disabilities
• Military recruitment offices

Automatic registration

Louisiana does not practice automatic voter registration.

Online registration

See also: Online voter registration

Louisiana has implemented an online voter registration system. Residents can register to vote by visiting this website.

Same-day registration

Louisiana does not allow same-day voter registration.

Residency requirements

Louisiana law requires 20 days of residency in the state before a person may vote.

Verification of citizenship

See also: Laws permitting noncitizens to vote in the United States

Louisiana state law requires a voter registration applicant to provide proof of citizenship to register to vote. As of June 2025, the state had not implemented the requirement.

All 49 states with voter registration systems require applicants to declare that they are U.S. citizens in order to register to vote in state and federal elections, under penalty of perjury or other punishment. Seven states — Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, New Hampshire, and Wyoming — have laws requiring verification of citizenship at the time of voter registration, whether in effect or not. In three states — California, Maryland, and Vermont — at least one local jurisdiction allows noncitizens to vote in some local elections. Noncitizens registering to vote in those elections must complete a voter registration application provided by the local jurisdiction and are not eligible to register as state or federal voters.

Verifying your registration

The site Geaux Vote, run by the Louisiana Secretary of State office, allows residents to check their voter registration status online.

See also

2018 measures

• 2018 ballot measures
• Civil and criminal trials on the ballot

Louisiana

• Louisiana ballot measures
• Louisiana ballot measure laws

News and analysis

• Ballot measure lawsuits
• Ballot measure readability
• Ballot measure polls

External links

• Louisiana 2018 Proposed Constitutional Amendments
• Senate Bill 243