BATON ROUGE—U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), today announced his support for the proposed Constitutional Amendment No. 2 in Louisiana, which would require unanimous jury verdicts for felony convictions. Currently, Louisiana and Oregon are the only states to allow 10-12 “split-jury” decisions to convict defendants.
“Innocent until proven guilty is a fundamental principle of our society, and a split-jury law undermines that principle,” said Dr. Cassidy. “Louisiana should join Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi and every other state but one in requiring unanimous jury decisions in all non-capital felony cases.”
The measure is supported by the Louisiana Family Forum, the ACLU of Louisiana, Americans for Prosperity of Louisiana, the Anti-Defamation League, the Louisiana Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus, the Urban League of Louisiana, and other groups.
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