The Supreme Court allows non-12-member and non-unanimous state juries

Evidence

During the twentieth century, several states sought to reduce the costs of trials and promote efficiency by reducing the size of juries and experimenting with non-unanimous verdicts. When disappointed litigants challenged these experiments as unconstitutional, the Supreme Court for the most part backed the states. In Williams v. Florida (1970), the Court ruled that a jury of 12 was not required in state criminal or civil trials, although in 1978 it established a minimum size of six members in state criminal trials. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1423

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The Supreme Court allows states to use juries smaller than twelve and nonunanimous verdicts. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 873; Research confirms that unanimous twelve-member juries deliberate more thoroughly and inclusively. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 876