NEW ORLEANS - Two groups, typically on different ends of the political spectrum are sending the same message on Amendment number 2, asking voters to put an end to the state’s non-unanimous jury law.
“We know that people believe what they see on television. That what they see on Law and Order is when one member of a jury thinks you’re innocent, that you will get a new trial. That you’ll be freed. And that’s just not how it works in Louisiana,” Mary Patricia Wray, Communications with the Unanimous Jury Coalition said.
Louisiana and Oregon are currently the only two states that allow juries to convict or acquit a person in a felony case with 10 out of 12 jurors, a law dating back to the Jim Crow Era.
"We believe that if the government is going to take hopes and dreams away from individuals for the rest of their lives, that we should be sure that we're sending the right person to jail,” John Kay, State Director of Americans for Prosperity, Louisiana said.
John Kay is State Director of Americans for Prosperity, a conservative group funded by the Koch Brothers, one of the most powerful political families in the U.S.
He says they plan on spending over $100,000 between now and election day on digital ads.
"We are contacting voters across the state. Making phone calls. Sending out direct mail pieces. Writing opt eds. Radio station to help spread the word about this constitutional amendment,” Kay said.
The same goes for the Unanimous Jury Coalition, a band of organizations, which includes the ACLU and the Southern Poverty Law Center. Mary-Patricia Wray says this reform is long overdue.
"Regardless of the race of the defendant or the race of folks on the jury, it meant that they didn't have to prove the guilt of the defendant beyond a reasonable doubt for every person on the jury. So, it means that people in Florida, Texas, Alabama, Mississippi have more 6 amendment rights than people in Louisiana, and we're gonna change that,” Wray said.
While there seems to be bipartisan support for this amendment, the ultimate decider on the matter will be the voters.
Caresse Jackman can be reached at cjackman@wwltv.com.