Ramos v. Louisiana
U.S. Supreme Court · decided April 20, 2020 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Decided
- April 20, 2020
- Term
- October Term 2019
- Vote
- 6–3
- Majority author
- Justice Gorsuch
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Disposition
- Reversed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
- Constitutional ruling
- State/territorial law held unconstitutional
Opinion excerpt
(Slip Opinion) OCTOBER TERM, 2019 1 Syllabus NOTE: Where it is feasible, a syllabus (headnote) will be released, as is being done in connection with this case, at the time the opinion is issued. The syllabus constitutes no part of the opinion of the Court but has been prepared by the Reporter of Decisions for the convenience of the reader. See United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co., 200 U.S. 321 , 337. SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES Syllabus RAMOS v. LOUISIANA CERTIORARI TO THE COURT OF APPEAL OF LOUISIANA, FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 18–5924. Argued October 7, 2019—Decided April 20, 2020 In 48 States and federal court, a single juror’s vote to acquit is enough to prevent a conviction. But two States, Louisiana and Oregon, have long punished people based on 10-to-2 verdicts. In this case, petitioner Evangelisto Ramos was convicted of a serious crime in a Louisiana court by a 10-to-2 jury verdict. Instead of the mistrial he would have received almost anywhere else, Ramos was sentenced to life without parole. He contests his conviction by a nonunanimous jury as an un- constitutional denial of the Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial. Held: The judgment is reversed. 2016–1199 (La. App. 4 Cir. 11/2/17), 231 So. 3d 44 , reversed. JUSTICE GORSUCH delivered the opinion of the Court with respect to Parts I, II–A, III, and IV–B–1, concluding that the Sixth Amendment right to a jury…
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