Source: https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/399/66.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-23 17:51:18+00:00

Document:
Appellant was charged with a misdemeanor in the New York City Criminal Court. Under 40 of the New York City Criminal Court Act all trials in that court are without a jury. Appellant's motion for a jury trial was denied, he was convicted, and given the maximum sentence of a year's imprisonment. The highest state court affirmed, rejecting appellant's contention that 40 was unconstitutional. Held: The judgment is reversed. Pp. 67-76.
24 N. Y. 2d 207, 247 N. E. 2d 260, reversed.
MR. JUSTICE WHITE, joined by MR. JUSTICE BRENNAN and MR. JUSTICE MARSHALL, concluded that defendants accused of serious crimes must, under the Sixth Amendment, as made applicable to the States by the Fourteenth Amendment, be afforded the right to trial by jury, Duncan v. Louisiana, 391 U.S. 145 , and though "petty crimes" may be tried without a jury, no offense can be deemed "petty" for purposes of the right to trial by jury where imprisonment for more than six months is authorized. Pp. 68-74.
MR. JUSTICE BLACK, joined by MR. JUSTICE DOUGLAS, concluded that the constitutional guarantee of the right to trial by jury applies to "all crimes" and not just to those crimes deemed to be "serious." Pp. 74-76.
William E. Hellerstein argued the cause for appellant. With him on the brief were Leon B. Polsky and Alice Daniel.
Michael R. Juviler argued the cause for appellee. With him on the brief were Frank S. Hogan, Lewis R. Friedman, and David Otis Fuller, Jr.
MR. JUSTICE WHITE announced the judgment of the Court and delivered an opinion in which MR. JUSTICE BRENNAN and MR. JUSTICE MARSHALL join.
Appellant was arrested and charged with "jostling" - a Class A misdemeanor in New York, punishable by a maximum term of imprisonment of one year. 1 He was brought to trial in the New York City Criminal Court. Section 40 of the New York City Criminal Court Act declares that all trials in that court shall be without a jury. 2 Appellant's pretrial motion for jury trial was accordingly denied. He was convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for the maximum term. The New York [399 U.S. 66, 68] Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction, rejecting appellant's argument that 40 was unconstitutional insofar as it denied him an opportunity for jury trial. 3 We noted probable jurisdiction. 4 We reverse.
In Duncan v. Louisiana, 391 U.S. 145 (1968), we held that the Sixth Amendment, as applied to the States through the Fourteenth, requires that defendants accused of serious crimes be afforded the right to trial by jury. We also reaffirmed the long-established view that so-called "petty offenses" may be tried without a jury. 5 Thus the task before us in this case is the essential if not wholly satisfactory one, see Duncan, at 161, of determining the line between "petty" and "serious" for purposes of the Sixth Amendment right to jury trial.
"2. Jostles or crowds another person at a time when a third person's hand is in the proximity of such person's pocket or handbag." N. Y. Penal Law 165.25.
Appellant was convicted on the testimony of the arresting officer. The officer stated that he had observed appellant, working in concert with another man, remove a loose package from an unidentified woman's pocketbook after the other man had made a "body contact" with her on a crowded escalator. He arrested both men, searched appellant, and found a single $10 bill. No other testimony or evidence was introduced on either side. The trial judge thought the police officer "a very forthright and credible witness" and found appellant guilty. He was subsequently sentenced to one year in the penitentiary. See App. 1-17, 21.
[ Footnote 2 ] "All trials in the court shall be without a jury. All trials in the court shall be held before a single judge; provided, however, that where the defendant has been charged with a misdemeanor . . . [he] shall be advised that he has the right to a trial in a part of the court held by a panel of three of the judges thereof . . . ." N. Y. C. Crim. Ct. Act 40 (Supp. 1969).
[ Footnote 3 ] 24 N. Y. 2d 207, 247 N. E. 2d 260 (1969).
[ Footnote 4 ] 395 U.S. 932 (1969).
[ Footnote 5 ] Duncan v. Louisiana, 391 U.S. 145, 159 (1968); see Cheff v. Schnackenberg, 384 U.S. 373 (1966); District of Columbia v. Clawans, 300 U.S. 617 (1937); District of Columbia v. Colts, 282 U.S. 63 (1930); Schick v. United States, 195 U.S. 65 (1904); Natal v. Louisiana, 139 U.S. 621 (1891); Callan v. Wilson, 127 U.S. 540 (1888); Frankfurter & Corcoran, Petty Federal Offenses and the Constitutional Guaranty of Trial by Jury, 39 Harv. L. Rev. 917 (1926). But see Kaye, Petty Offenders Have No Peers!, 26 U. Chi. L. Rev. 245 (1959).
[ Footnote 6 ] Decisions of this Court have looked to both the nature of the offense itself, District of Columbia v. Colts, 282 U.S. 63 (1930), as well as the maximum potential sentence, Duncan v. Louisiana, 391 U.S. 145 (1968), in determining whether a particular offense was so serious as to require a jury trial. In this case, we decide only that a potential sentence in excess of six months' imprisonment is sufficiently severe by itself to take the offense out of the category of "petty." None of our decisions involving this issue have ever held such an offense "petty." See cases cited n. 5, supra.
[ Footnote 7 ] N. Y. Penal Law, 10.00, 70.15 (1967).
[ Footnote 8 ] Both the convicted felon and the convicted misdemeanant may be prevented under New York law from engaging in a wide variety of occupations. In addition, the convicted felon is deprived of certain civil rights, including the right to vote and to hold public office. The relevant statutes are set out in Brief for Appellant C-1 to C-6; Brief for Appellee A8-A12.
[ Footnote 9 ] See statutes cited n. 7, supra; N. Y. Penal Law 70.20 (1967).
[ Footnote 10 ] N. Y. Const., Art. I, 6; N. Y. Code Crim. Proc. 22, 222 (1958); N. Y. C. Crim. Ct. Act 31, 41 (1963); see, e. g., People v. Bellinger, 269 N. Y. 265, 199 N. E. 213 (1935); People v. Van Dusen, 56 Misc. 2d 107, 287 N. Y. S. 2d 741 (1967).
[ Footnote 11 ] Even New York distinguishes among misdemeanors in terms of the seriousness of the offense. Following a recent revision of the penal law, Class A misdemeanors were made punishable by up to one year's imprisonment, Class B misdemeanors up to three months' imprisonment, and "violations" up to 15 days. As Judge Burke noted in his dissenting opinion below, "an argument can be made with some force that the Legislature has identified petty offenses as those included in the `violations' category and in the category of class B misdemeanors." 24 N. Y. 2d 207, 225, 247 N. E. 2d 260, 270 (1969).
[ Footnote 12 ] 18 U.S.C. 1.
[ Footnote 13 ] Frankfurter & Corcoran, n. 5, supra.
[ Footnote 14 ] Duncan v. Louisiana, 391 U.S. 145, 161 n. 33 (1968).
[ Footnote 15 ] La. Crim. Proc. Code Ann., Art. 779 (Supp. 1969); see Comment, Jury Trial in Louisiana - Implications of Duncan, 29 La. L. Rev. 118, 127 (1968).
[ Footnote 16 ] N. J. Rev. Stat. 2A:169-4 (Supp. 1969).
[ Footnote 17 ] Compare N. Y. C. Crim. Ct. Act 40 (Supp. 1969), with N. Y. Uniform Dist. Ct. Act 2011 (1963); N. Y. Uniform City Ct. Act 2011 (Supp. 1969). Because of our disposition of this case on appellant's jury-trial claim, we find it unnecessary to consider his argument that New York has violated the Equal Protection Clause by denying him a jury trial, while granting a six-man-jury trial to defendants charged with the identical offense elsewhere in the State. See Salsburg v. Maryland, 346 U.S. 545 (1954); Missouri v. Lewis, 101 U.S. 22 (1880). See generally Horowitz & Neitring, Equal [399 U.S. 66, 72] Protection Aspects of Inequalities in Public Education and Public Assistance Programs From Place to Place Within a State, 15 U. C. L. A. L. Rev. 787-804 (1968).
[ Footnote 18 ] The various state statutory provisions are set out in the briefs filed in this case. A survey is also included in American Bar Assn. Project on Standards for Criminal Justice, Advisory Committee on the Criminal Trial, Trial by Jury 20-23 (Approved Draft 1968) (recommending that the possibility of six months' imprisonment and a fine of $500, "should be the upper limit upon the definition of `petty offenses'").
[ Footnote 19 ] In a related decision of this date we hold that trial by a six-man jury satisfies the Sixth Amendment requirement of jury trial. Williams v. Florida, post, p. 78.
[ Footnote 20 ] Thus a trial before a panel of three judges, which appellant might have requested in lieu of trial before a single judge, see n. 2, supra, can hardly serve as a substitute for a jury trial.
[ Footnote 21 ] We find little relevance in the act that Congress has defined misdemeanors punishable by imprisonment up to one year as "minor offenses" for purposes of vesting trial jurisdiction in the United States magistrates rather than commissioners, 18 U.S.C. 3401 (f) (1964 ed., Supp. IV), or for purposes of authorizing eavesdropping under state court orders, 18 U.S.C. 2516 (2) (1964 ed., Supp. IV), or for purposes of determining the eligibility for jury service of formerly convicted persons, 28 U.S.C. 1865 (b) (5) (1964 ed., Supp. IV). Such statutes involve entirely different considerations from those involved in deciding when the important right to jury trial shall attach to a criminal proceeding. Nothing in any of the above Acts suggests that Congress meant to alter its longstanding judgment that "[n]otwithstanding any Act of Congress to the contrary . . . [a]ny misdemeanor, the penalty for which does not exceed imprisonment for a period of six months or a fine of not more than $500, or both, is a petty offense." 18 U.S.C. 1.
[ Footnote 22 ] Experience in other States, notably California where jury trials are available for all criminal offenses including traffic violations, Cal. Pen. Code 689 (1956), suggests that the administrative burden is likely to be slight, with a very high waiver rate of jury trials. See H. Kalven & H. Zeisel, The American Jury 18-19 and n. 12 (1966).
MR. JUSTICE BLACK, with whom MR. JUSTICE DOUGLAS joins, concurring in the judgment.
[ Footnote 1 ] See Callan v. Wilson, 127 U.S. 540 (1888); District of Columbia v. Colts, 282 U.S. 63 (1930); District of Columbia v. Clawans, 300 U.S. 617 (1937); cf. Schick v. United States, 195 U.S. 65 (1904).
[ Footnote 2 ] My view does not require a conclusion that every act which may lead to "minuscule" sanctions by the Government is a "crime" which can only be punished after a jury trial. See Frank v. United States, 395 U.S. 147, 159 -160 (1969) (dissenting opinion). There may be instances in which certain conduct is punished by fines or other sanctions in circumstances that would not make that conduct criminal. Not all official sanctions are imposed in criminal proceedings, but when, as in this case, the sanction bears all the indicia of a criminal punishment, a jury trial cannot be denied by labeling the punishment "petty."
I dissent from today's holding that something in the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments commands New York City to provide trial by jury for an offense punishable by a confinement of more than six months but less than one year. MR. JUSTICE BLACK has noted correctly that the Constitution guarantees a jury trial "[i]n all criminal prosecutions" (Amendment VI) and for "all Crimes" (Art. III, 2, cl. 3), but these provisions were not written as a command to the States; they were written at a time when the Federal Government exercised only a limited authority to provide for federal offenses "very grave and few in number." 1 The limited number of serious acts that were made criminal offenses were against federal authority, and were proscribed in a period when administration of the criminal law was regarded as largely the province of the States. The Founding [399 U.S. 66, 77] Fathers therefore cast the constitutional provisions we deal with here as limitations on federal power, not the power of States. State administration of criminal justice included a wide range of petty offenses, and as to many of the minor cases, the States often did not require trial by jury. 2 This state of affairs had not changed appreciably when the Fourteenth Amendment was approved by Congress in 1866 and was ratified by the States in 1868. In these circumstances, the jury trial guarantees of the Constitution properly have been read as extending only to "serious" crimes. I find, however, nothing in the "serious" crime coverage of the Sixth or Fourteenth Amendment that would require this Court to invalidate the particular New York City trial scheme at issue here.
I find it somewhat disconcerting that with the constant urging to adjust ourselves to being a "pluralistic society" - and I accept this in its broad sense - we find constant pressure to conform to some uniform pattern on the theory that the Constitution commands it. I see no reason why an infinitely complex entity such as New York City should be barred from deciding that misdemeanants can be punished with up to 365 days' confinement without a jury trial while in less urban areas another body politic would fix a six-month maximum for offenses tried without a jury. That the "near-uniform judgment of the Nation" is otherwise than the judgment in some of its parts affords no basis for me to read into the Constitution something not found there. What may be a serious offense in one setting - e. g., stealing a horse in Cody, Wyoming, where a horse may be an indispensable part of living - may be considered less serious in another area, and the procedures for finding guilt and fixing punishment in the two locales may rationally differ from each other.

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