Jury Unanimity Bid Gets High Court Look (1)

Unanimous jury verdicts in criminal cases could soon become the law of the land after the U.S. Supreme Court March 18 granted review on the issue for next term.

If the justices decide that the federal Sixth Amendment unanimity right applies in state court, it will be the latest such instance of “incorporating” federal provisions to the states, an aspect of constitutional law brought to light recently this term with the high court’s closely watched decision in Timbs v. Indiana.

Eighth Amendment excessive fines protections apply to the states, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote for the court in Timbs ...