Duncan v. Louisiana

…state, but, in 1968 in Duncan v. Louisiana, the United States Supreme Court ruled that a jury trial is a constitutional right in all criminal cases in which the penalty may exceed six months’ imprisonment. In civil cases its constitutional status is more various, but jury trial generally is available…

…to trial by jury (Duncan v. Louisiana [1968]). The court held that the Duncan standard constituted a departure from the less-inclusive test that had been used in incorporation cases since the late 19th century—namely, whether the right is of “the very essence of a scheme of ordered liberty” (Palko…