Southeastern to present speaker on unanimous jury amendment included on November 6 election ballot
Monday, October 1, 2018 
by: Tonya Lowentritt
SPEAKER TO PRESENT CASE FOR UNANIMOUS JURY AMENDMENT- Southeastern Louisiana University’s Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice will present a free lecture by guest speaker Southern University Law School Professor Angela Allen-Bell Wednesday, Oct. 10, at Pottle Auditorium at 5:30 p.m. An expert on civil and human rights, Allen-Bell will speak on “Why It’s Important to Require Unanimous Juries for Felony Convictions,” a topic that directly relates to Constitutional Amendment No. 2, which will be on the election ballot in Louisiana on Nov. 6.
HAMMOND – Southeastern Louisiana University’s Department of Sociology and Criminal
Justice will present guest speaker Southern University Law School Professor Angela
Allen-Bell Wednesday, Oct. 10, at Pottle Auditorium. An expert on civil and human
rights and a social justice advocate, Allen-Bell will speak at 5:30 p.m. on “Why It’s
Important to Require Unanimous Juries for Felony Convictions.”
The free event is being hosted by Justice4All, a student group in the Department
of Sociology and Criminal Justice. Sociologist and Faculty Advisor to Justice4All
Rebecca Hensley explained that Allen-Bell’s speech topic relates to Constitutional
Amendment No. 2, which will be on the election ballot in Louisiana on Nov. 6.
“The Founding Fathers adopted the 6th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution with
unanimous juries in mind, but after Reconstruction, some states decided to allow only
10 members of a jury to convict a defendant of a felony,” explained Hensley. “Currently,
all other states in the U.S. except Oregon and Louisiana have long since amended their
constitutions to return to the original intent. Many Louisiana voters – as well as
most legislators on both sides of the aisle – are in favor of Louisiana moving in
this same direction.”
Hensley said she believes the American Bar Association opposes non-unanimous
jury laws because research has found that unanimous verdicts are more reliable, careful,
and thorough, while non-unanimous verdicts contribute to mass incarceration and wrongful
convictions.
“Angela Allen-Bell has spoken and published on this issue nationally for several
years,” said Hensley. “Hammond and our university community are fortunate, indeed,
to have her share her expertise on this matter with us. And Justice4All is very excited
to feature her in its first hosted event on the campus.”
For more information, contact Hensley at 985-201-4393.
