In 1997, two jurors in Reginald Reddick’s trial found him not guilty of the murder he was accused of with circumstantial evidence. Typically, a non-unanimous jury like that would mean an acquittal. But because Reddick was from Louisiana, this Jim Crow-era law sent him to a life in prison instead!
Back in 1898, Louisiana delegates met, according to their own journal entry, to “reestablish the supremacy of the white race.” A law came out of that: allowing split jury verdicts in felony trials.
The idea was that, even if a couple Black people made it onto a jury and voted not guilty, their voices could be silenced to still convict Black defendants.
In 2020, the Supreme Court ruled that those kinds of split jury convictions are unconstitutional. So why did Reddick STILL have to argue for a new trial to prove he’s not a murderer?
Because in 2021, the court decided their 2020 decision wouldn’t immediately apply to past cases. If Reddick wins his case, over 1,000 other people might go free, too. And 80% of them are Black!
When a system can admit a method is wrong, but still torture and incarcerate people with it, it's not a system that encourages or creates justice. The criminal legal system itself needs to be abolished – so all our community members trapped in prison can come home!