nonunanimous

Nonunanimous is an adjective describing a decision, ruling, or opinion to which not all members of the relevant group subscribe. It indicates that a portion dissents or abstains, producing a result that is not agreed upon by every participant. The term is used across fields including law, politics, and governance to contrast with unanimous outcomes in which all parties share the same conclusion.

In legal contexts, nonunanimous verdicts or opinions arise when a group fails to reach full agreement. In criminal trials, some jurisdictions historically allowed juries to convict or acquit by nonunanimous verdicts or to issue majority or supermajority opinions; this has been linked to concerns about fairness and error rates. A notable development in the United States is the Supreme Court decision Ramos v. Louisiana (2020), which held that criminal convictions in state courts must be decided by a unanimous jury. Following this ruling, nonunanimous verdicts in criminal trials became unconstitutional in state courts.

Beyond juries, nonunanimous decisions can occur in legislative bodies, corporate boards, or other decision-making bodies when the vote is not fully aligned. In such contexts, nonunanimous outcomes may reflect genuine disagreement or strategic signaling of dissent; they can influence subsequent negotiations, policy framing, or governance dynamics.

In computing and distributed systems, nonunanimous outcomes may occur in consensus protocols, where processes may converge on a result without full agreement, prompting mechanisms to handle faults or disagreements.

See also: unanimity, majority, dissent, consensus, plurality.