U.S. Supreme Court decision on unanimous jury verdicts leaves military out Thursday, April 23, 2020

Stars & Stripes

A Supreme Court opinion this week banning non-unanimous verdicts in state criminal cases leaves the military as the sole American jurisdiction that allows them.

The court’s 6-3 decision on Ramos v. Louisiana said that a unanimous jury decision, long required in federal courts under Sixth Amendment guarantees on the rights to a trial by jury, also applied to state courts. Oregon was the last state allowing non-unanimous juries.

But there was no mention in the decision of military courts, which require only a three-quarters majority for a conviction.

Read more at: https://www.stripes.com/news/supreme-court-decision-on-unanimous-jury-verdicts-leaves-military-out-1.627112