U.S. Supreme Court Archives

A SCOTUS Warning Shot on Small Juries

Historically, trial juries were twelve people. Is this number constitutionally required? The Supreme Court said no 54 years ago in Williams v. Florida. The decision was 7-1, with Justice Marshall dissenting alone on this point. However, the Supreme Court’s views on such matters have changed, and four years ago the …

Unconnected Mitigation Evidence in Capital Cases

Today the U.S. Supreme Court reversed a decision of the Ninth Circuit in a capital case, Thornell v. Jones. All but one of the Justices agreed that the panel decision was wrong. The Ninth Circuit itself refused to rehear this rogue decision over the dissents of ten of its judges. …