Promise of Justice Initiative Announces 1,000+ Requests for New Trials Filed on Behalf of Louisianans Serving Time Due to Jim Crow Jury Verdicts

The Promise of Justice Initiative announced the filing of more than 1,000 petitions for new trials on behalf of Louisianans serving time in prison due to a non-unanimous jury conviction. The effort, believed to be the largest campaign for post-conviction relief in Louisiana’s history, was launched immediately after the U.S. Supreme Court declared non-unanimous jury convictions to be unconstitutional in Ramos v. Louisiana, giving attorneys and advocates one year to file requests for post-conviction relief, to be completed by April 20, 2021.

“Each one of these petitions represents a person who is serving time in prison due to an unjust, racist practice that was enshrined in Louisiana’s state constitution under Jim Crow,” said Jamila Johnson, Managing Attorney for PJI’s Jim Crow Juries Project. “Thanks to the incredible work and dedication from our committed staff and more than 700 volunteers from Seattle to Singapore, we have successfully filed more than 1,000 requests for new trials so justice can finally be restored, and this relic of Jim Crow can finally be destroyed.” 

On the eve of the first anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision finding Jim Crow Juries unconstitutional, Johnson and Executive Director Mercedes Montagnes discussed next steps in their campaign to heal the wounds inflicted by Jim Crow juries as well as the potential implications of the pending Supreme Court case Edwards v. Vannoy, expected to be decided this spring. 

Johnson and Montagnes were joined by Katie Hunter-Lowrey, Crime Survivor Organizer for PJI, and JonRe Taylor, who was the dissenting juror in a Jim Crow jury conviction.  A recording of the press conference, including Q&A, can be found here: