Baldwin v. New York 399 U.S. 66 (1970)

• Author: Leonard W. Levy
• Pages: 157

Page 157

When DUNCAN V. LOUISIANA extended the SIXTH AMENDMENT ' STRIALBYJURY provision to the states in 1968, the Court said that MISDEMEANORS, crimes punishable by imprisonment for less than six months, may be tried without a jury. Petty offenses have always been exempt from the amendment's guarantee of trial by jury in "all criminal prosecutions." Baldwin, having been sentenced to a year in jail for pickpocketing, claimed on APPEAL that New York City had deprived him of his right to a trial by jury. The Court held that the Constitution requires a trial by jury if an offense can be punished by imprisonment for more than six months. Justice BYRON R. WHITE, for a plurality, found decisive the fact that one city alone in the nation denied trial by jury when the possible punishment exceeded six months. Justices HUGO L. BLACK and WILLIAM O. DOUGLAS...