STATEMENT ABOUT THE SCOTUS DECISION ON THE DALE LAMBERT CASE
The SCOTUS could have been on the right side of history this session, but they, instead, decided to deny certiorari in the Dale Lambert case. This denial represents the continuation of the assault upon the Sixth Amendment rights of Louisiana defendants, as well as a defining step backwards in our national journey of social progress and racial healing.
It’s been forty-five years since the SCOTUS, in Apodaca, sanctioned the use of a less-than-unanimous vote. At no prior point has the SCOTUS had the benefit of a forty-five-year observation period. Other states could have converted to a non-unanimous jury system after the Apodaca ruling. Many have debated it. None opted to change. That’s a compelling statement and one that should not have gone unnoticed this session. By maintaining unanimity, the nation (federal system and 48 states) have boldly conveyed the view that the Sixth Amendment trial protections are to be sacredly guarded.
As we reflect on the actions of the SCOTUS, we must take care not to overlook the actions of Louisiana officials. What they did not do speaks volumes. Louisiana officials had a chance to file a response. They elected silence. I suspect that has something to do with an inability to articulate a respectable defense of this injustice. Citizens should give thought to this.
What the SCOTUS did not do and could not do is contain a movement. The efforts to restore Sixth Amendment rights will continue and will grow. Defense attorneys will still raise these challenges in Louisiana courts. Members of the public will be asked to partake in this debate as an exercise of their civic duty. They will also be asked to speak their desires to the legislature and also to lend their expertise to this cause.
While there are racial overtones to this law, this is not a race issue. This is a justice issue. In his famous Letter from the Birmingham Jail, the late Reverend Martin Luther King responded to those who asked: “Why action now?” Dr. King responded: “[J]justice too long delayed is justice denied….There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair.”
The citizens of Louisiana have waited over one hundred years for their Sixth Amendment rights to be restored. Their cup of endurance has runneth over! Today’s SCOTUS decision should be viewed as nothing more than formal notice that the location of this justice battle has changed.
Angela A. Allen-Bell
Associate Professor of Legal Writing & Analysis
B. K. Agnihotri Endowed Professor
Southern University Law Center
Jeff Thomas
Publisher • Opinion Columnist • 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 • 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
SCOTUS is a racist body
Having worked intimately in the criminal justice system, I am not surprised that the legislature has decided to be silent on this issue. There is too much money to be made in the prison industrial complex. Very sad…