Blanton v. North Las Vegas

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Blanton v. North Las Vegas

Argued January 9, 1989
Decided March 6, 1989

Full case name:	Blanton et al. v. City of North Las Vegas, Nevada

Citations:	489 U.S. 538
Prior history:	Certiorari to the Supreme Court of Nevada.

Subsequent history:	103 Nev. 623, 748 P.2d 494, affirmed.

Holding

The right to a jury trial is not found in crimes where the maximum period of incarceration is under six months.

Court membership

Chief Justice: William Rehnquist
Associate Justices: William J. Brennan, Jr., Byron White, Thurgood Marshall, Harry Blackmun, John Paul Stevens, Sandra Day O'Connor, Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy

Case opinions

Majority by: Marshall
Joined by: unanimous

Laws applied

U.S. Const. amend. VI

Blanton v. North Las Vegas, 489 U.S. 538 (1989), was a decision issued by the United States Supreme Court clarifying the limitations of the Right to Trial by Jury.

Melvin R. Blanton was charged with Driving under the influence of alcohol. His petition for a jury trial was denied and he was instead given a bench trial. Blanton appealed, arguing that his sixth amendment right to trial by jury had been violated.

The US Supreme Court ruled that Blanton did not have the right to a jury trial because the crime he was charged with was "petty". The court went on to elaborate: "offenses for which the maximum period of incarceration is six months, or less, are presumptively petty...a defendant can overcome this, and become entitled to a jury trial,..by showing that additional penalties [such as monetary fines]...are...so severe [as to indicate] that the legislature clearly determined that the offense is a serious one."