RIGHT OF THE ACCUSED TO TRIAL BY JURY Duncan v. Louisiana Case Study: Five Easy Steps Worksheet

Duncan v. Louisiana and the Incorporation
of the Sixth Amendment Right to Trial by Jury

• Writing for the Court, Justice Marshall holds that the Bill of Rights does not apply to the states

• Privileges and Immunities
• Due Process
• Equal Protection

• No right to a jury trial
• Bill of Rights does not apply to the states

• The due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment extends the Fifth Amendment (fair compensation clause) to the states

• Self-Incrimination
• Albert Twining refuses to testify against himself-loses his appeal
• However, Justice William Moody suggests in the decision for the court that the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment might incorporate a right which is "a fundamental principle of liberty and justice which inheres in the very idea of free government"

• Freedom of Speech
• Benjamin Gitlow convicted of violating the Criminal Anarchy Law of New York-wins his appeal
• Incorporation of freedom of speech and of the press as "fundamental personal rights and liberties" protected by the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment

• Double Jeopardy
• Palko tried twice for first-degree murder, convicted second time-loses his appeal
• However, Justice Cardozo proposes a standard for selective or partial incorporation of rights that are of the "very essence of a scheme of ordered liberty"

• Right to Jury in Criminal Trial
• Justice White writes for the Court: "Because we believe that trial by jury in criminal cases is fundamental to the American scheme of justice, we hold that the Fourteenth Amendment guarantees a right of jury trial in all criminal cases which-were they to be tried in a federal court-would come within the Sixth Amendment's guarantee."

• Double Jeopardy
• Benton tried twice for larceny, convicted second time-conviction overturned
• Justice Marshall, writing for the Court, describes the protection against double jeopardy as "a fundamental ideal in our constitutional heritage"
• Although it reverses the particular decision by Justice Cardozo in Palko, the Court still adheres to his concept of "ordered liberty" as an overall criterion for the incorporation doctrine