Minor v. Florida 

Our client was criminally tried before a jury of only 6 of his peers, despite the fact that for hundreds of years the common law practice—and the practice in a vast majority of states and in the federal system—is a jury of 12. The MacArthur Justice Center is urging the Supreme Court to overturn its wrong and outdated precedent that allows for this practice, in violation of individuals’ Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial.  

In Williams v. Florida, 399 U.S. 78 (1970), the Supreme Court held that there was no Sixth Amendment problem with Florida’s use of a 6-person jury to convict people of serious felonies. As Justice Gorsuch has recently put it, in doing so “the Court turned its back on the original meaning of the Constitution, centuries of historical practice,” not to mention a “battery of this Court’s precedents.” Cunningham v. Florida, 144 S. Ct. 1287, 1287 (2024) (Gorsuch, J., dissenting from denial of certiorari); Khorrami v. Arizona, 143 S. Ct. 22, 25 (2022) (Gorsuch, J., dissenting from denial of certiorari).   

In short, “Williams was wrong the day it was decided, it remains wrong today, and it impairs both the integrity of the American criminal justice system and the liberties of those who come before our Nation’s courts.” Khorrami, 143 S. Ct. at 23 (Gorsuch, J., dissenting from denial of certiorari). 

That’s why MJC is urging the Court that the time has come to overrule Williams. 

But the Court shouldn’t just take our word for it. Three groups of amici—the ACLU and the Rutherford Foundation; the Constitutional Accountability Center; and a group of jury scholars—also urged the Court to take this case and overrule Williams. 

We are proud to be co-counseling this case with the Florida Office of the Public Defender.