Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/399/66/
Timestamp: 2019-04-22 20:01:46+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. 399 U. S. 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. 399 U. S. 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. 399 U. S. 74-76.
Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction, rejecting appellant's argument that § 40 was unconstitutional insofar as it denied him an opportunity for jury trial. [Footnote 3] We noted probable jurisdiction. [Footnote 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. [Footnote 5] Thus, the task before us in this case is the essential, if not wholly satisfactory, one, see Duncan at 391 U. S. 161, of determining the line between "petty" and "serious" for purposes of the Sixth Amendment right to jury trial.
"is not to be construed as relating only to felonies, or offences punishable by confinement in the penitentiary. It embraces as well some classes of misdemeanors, the punishment of which involves or may involve the deprivation of the liberty of the citizen."
"[i]n determining whether the length of the authorized prison term or the seriousness of other punishment is enough, in itself, to require a jury trial"
"A person is guilty of jostling when, in a public place, he intentionally and unnecessarily: "
"1. Places his hand in the proximity of a person's pocket or handbag; or"
"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."
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.
"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).
24 N.Y.2d 207, 247 N.E.2d 260 (1969).
Duncan v. Louisiana, 391 U. S. 145, 391 U. S. 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).
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 has ever held such an offense "petty." See cases cited n 5, supra.
N.Y.Penal Law, §§ 10.00, 70.15 (1967).
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.
See statute cited n. 7, supra; N.Y.Penal Law § 70.20 (1967).
N.Y. Cont., 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. .2d 741 (1967).
"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 misdemeanor."
24 N.Y.2d 207, 225, 247 N.E.2d 260, 270 (1969).
Frankfurter & Corcoran, n 5, supra.
Duncan v. Louisiana, 391 U. S. 145, 391 U. S. 161 n. 33 (1968).
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).
N.J.Rev.Stat. § 2A:169-4 (Supp. 1969).
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 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).
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'").
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. 399 U. S. 78.
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.
"[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."
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).
enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed. . . ."
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).
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 Fronk v. United States, 395 U. S. 147, 395 U. S. 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."
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. [Footnote 3/2] 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.
"Until very recently, the occasion for considering the dispensability of trial by jury in the enforcement of the criminal law has hardly presented itself to Congress, except as to the Territories and the District of Columbia, because, on the whole, federal offenses were at once very grave and few in number."
See id. at 934-965; District of Columbia v. Clawans, 300 U. S. 617, 300 U. S. 626 (1937).

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