SCOTUS rejects review of Florida case challenging 6-person juries
The U.S. Supreme Court won’t take up the case of a Florida woman sentenced to eight years in prison by a jury of six people.
Justice Neil Gorsuch dissented from the decision and chided the rest of the court for not considering the case.
“Florida does what the Constitution forbids because of us,” Gorsuch wrote.
Most criminal trials require a 12-person jury. But in Florida and five other states (Arizona, Connecticut, Indiana, Massachusetts and Utah), a six-person jury can be used. In Florida, all non-death penalty criminal trials use six-person juries.
In a brief opposing the motion to take up the case, Attorney General Ashley Moody noted there were more than 5,000 cases in Florida pending app...
