A Friendly Reminder About A Constitutional Amendment That Might Affect Your Or A Loved One’s Life
By Kenneth Cooper
A funny thing happened this Spring, not funny as in oh my goodness my stomach hurts from laughing so hard funny, but funny as in: well ain’t that peculiar. Louisiana, a state known for its dedication to massively incarcerating its citizens, apparently decided to change its ways. No more, legislators stood in unison and declared, no more will we subject our citizens, mainly the black ones, to the whims of an unjust criminal justice system.
Quick recap: back in the days when black people were newly freed slaves, state legislators faced two dilemmas. 1) how could they recoup all the free labor they had just lost, and 2) what were they going to do about all those black people walking around talking about, “Hey we got equal rights too now.” The answer to both questions was simple: throw them in jail. The prison would become the new plantation and using non-unanimous juries to convict somebody of a felony would become the quickest and easiest way to get them there.
116 years later, thanks to the foresight of those legislators, and the policies of former president Bill Clinton, the state finally realized the full repugnance of its position. On a world stage amongst other deplorable states and 3rd world countries our present president would call shit holes, Louisiana and Louisiana alone was awarded the infamous designation as the prison capital of the world. Eventually Louisiana also realized it was a designation it couldn’t afford. Since then, the state has experimented in privatizing prisons to cut costs and just letting people out of prison.
Eventually that paid off. Earlier this year, in an announcement that would’ve had its forebearers reaching for the nearest noose and torch, the state declared that it had reached its lowest prison rate in 20 years. It also left for jurors to decide whether it should continue its non-unanimous jury policy.
In court for serious cases, the jury, ideally, is supposed to reach a verdict as one body, one mind. Only here and in Oregon do the courts allow a form of schizophrenia to determine whether someone is convicted of a felony or not. Here, it takes only 10 out of 12 jurors to convict someone of a felony and subject them to hard time.
Our founding fathers, those people conservatives love to fetishize, the ones who owned slaves, treated their wives as property, and…anyway, even those founding fathers despite all their hypocrisy recognized that citizens needed to be protected from an abusive and unjust government, which is why much of the constitution is dedicated to the rights/protections citizens possess, one being a trial by jury instead of a state trial.
On November 6th (yeah it’s about two months away, but we’ll remind you) citizens will be able to right a historical wrong. On the ballot, will be a question that goes a little something like this:
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?
If you are about justice, if you are about ensuring that prosecutors have to actually prove their felony cases beyond a reasonable doubt, then vote yes. If not, do us all a favor and stay home.
Jeff Thomas
Publisher • Opinion Columnist • Licensed General Contractor • Real Estate Appraiser • New Orleans
Jeff Thomas is the publisher of Black Source Media and one of New Orleans’ most direct voices on civic affairs, economic justice, and Louisiana politics. He writes from the intersection of experience and accountability — as a licensed general contractor,a tech company founder and executive with over 30 years experience, and a businessman who has worked across the city’s civic, media, and construction ecosystems for decades.
His Sunday column covers Louisiana legislative politics, insurance discrimination, housing policy, and the forces shaping Black community life in New Orleans and across the state. Thomas writes in the tradition of Black journalists who hold power accountable without apology — building arguments from data, delivering verdicts from evidence, and speaking to Black New Orleans with the directness the moment demands.
He is also the principal of EA Inspection Services, LLC, a government inspection services company. Black Source Media is his platform for the civic conversation New Orleans has needed and too rarely had.
Selected Articles by Jeff Thomas
Black Neighborhoods Pay the Highest Insurance Rates in Louisiana. Here’s What They Don’t Want You to Know.
They Didn’t Yell the N-Word. They Went to Law School, Bided Their Time, and Rewrote the Constitution Instead.
Vappie vs. Morrell: Why Does Justice Look Different in New Orleans?
The State Has the Money. New Orleans East Just Needs Them to Use It.
The Failure of Mitch Landrieu
Publisher — Black Source Media
Jeff Thomas
Publisher • Opinion Columnist • Licensed General Contractor • Real Estate Appraiser • New Orleans
Jeff Thomas is the publisher of Black Source Media and one of New Orleans’ most direct voices on civic affairs, economic justice, and Louisiana politics. He writes from the intersection of experience and accountability — as a licensed general contractor,a tech company founder and executive with over 30 years experience, and a businessman who has worked across the city’s civic, media, and construction ecosystems for decades.
His Sunday column covers Louisiana legislative politics, insurance discrimination, housing policy, and the forces shaping Black community life in New Orleans and across the state. Thomas writes in the tradition of Black journalists who hold power accountable without apology — building arguments from data, delivering verdicts from evidence, and speaking to Black New Orleans with the directness the moment demands.
He is also the principal of EA Inspection Services, LLC, a government inspection services company. Black Source Media is his platform for the civic conversation New Orleans has needed and too rarely had.
Selected Articles by Jeff Thomas
Black Neighborhoods Pay the Highest Insurance Rates in Louisiana. Here’s What They Don’t Want You to Know.
They Didn’t Yell the N-Word. They Went to Law School, Bided Their Time, and Rewrote the Constitution Instead.
Vappie vs. Morrell: Why Does Justice Look Different in New Orleans?
The State Has the Money. New Orleans East Just Needs Them to Use It.
The Failure of Mitch Landrieu