Jim Crow’s Last Stand

Nonunanimous Criminal Jury Verdicts in Louisiana

by Thomas Aiello

216 Pages / 5.50 x 8.50 x 0.50 in

Paperback

9780807172377

Published: September 2019

$25.00

BUY

eBook

9780807172537

Published: September 2019

$19.95

INFO

Description
Authors
Praise
Press Kit

A remnant of the racist post-Reconstruction Redeemer sociopolitical agenda, Louisiana’s nonunanimous jury-verdict law permitted juries to convict criminal defendants with only nine, and later ten, out of twelve votes: a legal oddity. On the surface, it was meant to speed convictions. In practice, the law funneled many convicts—especially African Americans—into Louisiana’s burgeoning convict lease system. Although it faced multiple legal challenges through the years, the law endured well after convict leasing had ended. Few were aware of its existence, let alone its original purpose. In fact, the original publication of Jim Crow’s Last Stand was one of the first attempts to call attention to the historical injustice caused by this law.

This updated edition of Jim Crow’s Last Stand unpacks the origins of the statute in Bourbon Louisiana, traces its survival through the civil rights era, and ends with the successful effort to overturn the nonunanimous jury practice, a policy that officially went into effect on January 1, 2019.

Thomas Aiello is associate professor of history and African American studies at Valdosta State University. He is the author of dozens of books and articles analyzing black cultural and intellectual history.

PRAISE FOR THE FIRST EDITION OF JIM CROW'S LAST STAND
A reminder of the importance of historical context in interpreting legal precedent and the perils citizens suffer when that context goes overlooked.
~Louisiana History

Aiello’s book provides an important contribution to the literature on Jim Crow. ~Journal of American History

An important book that provides activists with historical facts to make arguments for justice. Thomas Aiello could be the C. Vann Woodward of Louisiana today, providing historical context to a racially biased legal system. ~Arkansas Review