Opinion ID: 836596
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: federal constitutional challenge

Text: B.C.W. next contends that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment [8] guarantees a right to a jury trial in this delinquency proceeding. However, binding federal precedent is to the contrary. In McKeiver v. Pennsylvania, 403 U.S. 528, 91 S.Ct. 1976, 29 L.Ed.2d 647 (1971), five justices agreed that a juvenile delinquency proceeding is not a criminal prosecution within the meaning of the Sixth Amendment. Additionally, the court in McKeiver held that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment does not require a jury trial as a basic component of a juvenile delinquency proceeding. 403 U.S. at 538-51, 91 S.Ct. at 1983-89. B.C.W. points to no federal authority to the contrary. Neither does he point to anything peculiar in his situation that would cause due process to require a jury trial here. His federal constitutional claim is not well taken.