The developer's suit included a claim for violation of Section 1983, a federal statute enacted after the Civil War to protect former slaves. It penalizes those who, clothed with state power, attempt to deny civil rights to others. Monterey appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The judge, said the city, should have tried the case, himself. Handing it over to a jury was illegal, said the city.
Judges can be scary, but juries, especially angry ones, can be far worse.
City officials didn't want jurors looking at municipal deep pockets and awarding tons of money to the developer. For that reason, the big issue in the Supreme Court was whether the jury should have decided Del Monte's damages. Such decisions consist chiefly of historic analysis. First, the court had to figure out whether English common law judges tried cases such as Del Monte's at the time of the American Revolution. If so, the developer would get a jury.