The Real News Podcast Louisiana still imprisons people convicted by 'Jim Crow juries'
Feb 1, 2026
Erica Navalance, Associate Director of Strategic Criminal Litigation at the Promise of Justice Initiative, fights excessive sentences and non-unanimous convictions. She discusses the origins of Jim Crow jury rules, Louisiana’s refusal to apply the Ramos decision retroactively, and the case of Lloyd Gray — a 1980 conviction shaped by split juries, racial harm, and prosecutorial misconduct.
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Non‑Unanimous Juries Were Structural Suppression
- Louisiana adopted non-unanimous juries to include Black bodies but nullify Black votes, replacing overt exclusion with structural suppression.
- The state allowed 10-2 convictions so two Black jurors could be present yet effectively silenced, preserving white power.
Ramos Ended The Practice But Not Past Convictions
- The U.S. Supreme Court ruled non‑unanimous verdicts unconstitutional moving forward in Ramos v. Louisiana.
- Louisiana's courts refused full retroactivity, leaving over 1,000 people still imprisoned under those verdicts.
State Reliance Used To Block Retroactivity
- The Louisiana Supreme Court cited legislative responsibility and state reliance interests to deny retroactivity.
- Erica Navalance argues the court misweighed state burden against incarcerated people's liberty and likely overstated retrial hardship.