McKeiver v. Pennsylvania

In the years prior to McKeiver's case, the American courts had made a number of benevolent decisions aimed at protecting youths within the system. This culminated in the 1967 In re Gault case, which secured for juvenile defendants the right to an attorney, the right to cross-examine witnesses, and protection against self-incrimination, which were already firm tenets of the adult criminal system. Still, in theory juvenile proceedings remained closed hearings, to protect the minor. Only about ten states allowed jury trials for youths under certain circumstances.

McKeiver appealed to the state courts for a new trial, but the lower court's judgment was upheld. The case appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court in December of 1970. At this time, the suit requesting a new trial with a jury was joined by two similar cases. One coplaintiff was Edward Terry, another 15-year-old from Philadelphia, who was facing a charge of assaulting a police officer in 1969. His request for a trial by jury was also denied. Their arguments were combined with that of three North Carolina teenagers. The African American youths were arrested in a civil rights demonstration, and convicted in a closed juvenile court hearing on the testimony of one police officer. Like McKeiver, the others lost on appeal in the state courts, and appealed finally to the High Court.