In lengthy split opinion (with interesting splits), Supreme Court holds Sixth Amendment applies to states to require unanimous verdict to convict of serious offense

The Supreme Court this morning handed down a lengthy (surprisingly?) split decision in Ramos v. Louisiana, No. 18–5924 (S. Ct. April 20, 2020) (available here). At issue in Ramos was a set of hlaf-century old SCOTUS precendents in which the Court had held that the Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial, as incorporated against the states, did not require states to adopt a unanimity requirement even for serious cases. Those precedents went up in smoke today, but the break down of votes shows that not all of the Justices were eager to blaze a Sixth Amendment new path:

GORSUCH, J., announced the judgment of the Court, and delivered the opinion of the Court with respect to Parts I, II–A, III, and IV–B–1, in which GINSBURG, BREYER, SOTOMAYOR, and KAVANAUGH, JJ., joined, an opinion with respect to Parts II–B, IV–B–2, and V, in which GINSBURG, BREYER, and SOTOMAYOR, JJ., joined, and an opinion with respect to Part IV–A, in which GINSBURG and BREYER, JJ., joined. SOTOMAYOR, J., filed an opinion concurring as to all but Part IV–A. KAVANAUGH, J., filed an opinion concurring in part. THOMAS, J., filed an opinion concurring in the judgment. ALITO, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which ROBERTS, C. J., joined, and in which KAGAN, J., joined as to all but Part III–D.

I am going to need some time (and perhaps a number of posts) to process all that appears here, but for now I can spotlight Justice Gorsuch's notable closing paragraph:

On what ground would anyone have us leave Mr. Ramos in prison for the rest of his life?  Not a single Member of this Court is prepared to say Louisiana secured his conviction constitutionally under the Sixth Amendment.  No one before us suggests that the error was harmless.  Louisiana does not claim precedent commands an affirmance.  In the end, the best anyone can seem to muster against Mr. Ramos is that, if we dared to admit in his case what we all know to be true about the Sixth Amendment, we might have to say the same in some others.  But where is the justice in that?  Every judge must learn to live with the fact he or she will make some mistakes; it comes with the territory.  But it is something else entirely to perpetuate something we all know to be wrong only because we fear the consequences of being right.  The judgment of the Court of Appeals is Reversed.