Blanton v. City of North Las Vegas

Blanton v. North Las Vegas
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued January 9, 1989 Decided March 6, 1989
Full case name	Blanton et al. v. City of North Las Vegas, Nevada
Citations	489 U.S. 538 (more) 109 S. Ct. 1289; 103 L. Ed. 2d 550
Case history
Prior	103 Nev. 623, 748 P.2d 494 (1987); cert. granted, 487 U.S. 1203 (1988).
Holding
The right to a jury trial is not found in crimes where the maximum period of incarceration is under six months.
Court membership
Chief Justice William Rehnquist Associate Justices William J. Brennan Jr. · Byron White Thurgood Marshall · Harry Blackmun John P. Stevens · Sandra Day O'Connor Antonin Scalia · Anthony Kennedy
Case opinion
Majority	Marshall, joined by unanimous
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. VI

Blanton v. North Las Vegas, 489 U.S. 538 (1989), is a United States Supreme Court case clarifying the limitations of the right to trial by jury.

Background

Melvin R. Blanton was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol. His petition for a jury trial was denied and he was instead given a bench trial. Blanton appealed, arguing that his Sixth Amendment right to trial by jury had been violated.

Opinion of the Court

The Court ruled that Blanton did not have the right to a jury trial because the crime he was charged with was "petty" because it carries a maximum prison term of six months or less. The Court went on to elaborate: "we do find it appropriate to presume for purposes of the Sixth Amendment that society views such an offense as 'petty.' A defendant is entitled to a jury trial in such circumstances only if he can demonstrate that any additional statutory penalties, viewed in conjunction with the maximum authorized period of incarceration, are so severe that they clearly reflect a legislative determination that the offense in question is a 'serious' one."

See also

• List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 489
• List of United States Supreme Court cases
• Lists of United States Supreme Court cases by volume
• List of United States Supreme Court cases by the Rehnquist Court

External links

• Text of Blanton v. City of North Las Vegas, 489 U.S. 538 (1989) is available from: Google Scholar  Justia  Library of Congress  Oyez (oral argument audio)