McKeiver v. Pennsylvania

On the 6-3 vote on McKeiver v. Pennsylvania announced on 21 June 1971, the Court tried to reaffirm its faith in juvenile legal system, though admitting it did suffer serious flaws. It asserted that the constitutional right to a trial by jury did not extend to minors, but did not bar the practice in the ten or so states that occasionally allowed it. Though the vote was 6-3, five separate opinions were delivered, showing certain dissension among the justices. The majority opinion was written by Justice Blackmun, and it contended that allowing jury trials for minors would turn proceedings into an "adversarial" situation and in effect reverse the last two decades of benevolent-minded decisions and laws that had aimed at protecting youths within the system.

Furthermore, Blackmun wrote, jury trials for minors would be costly, time-consuming, and force the trial into the public realm. This last effect would rob the juvenile delinquent of the protection the closed hearings granted to him; notoriety from a trial might follow him or her for life, even though the criminal record was expunged upon reaching the age of 21. Blackmun also argued that a juvenile trial court was a "fact-finding" body, fulfilling the same function as a jury in a regular criminal case. Finally, if a minor was allowed a trial by jury, it would blur the distinction between the juvenile and adult court systems, and hasten the dissolution of that line completely.

In a dissenting opinion, Justice Douglas maintained that the police often treated minors as adult criminals, and they should thus be afforded the same rights. Critics of the decision also pointed out that the Supreme Court had recently ruled that in adult criminal cases, any offense punishable by six or more months of incarceration required a jury trial. In some cases juvenile delinquents faced sentences of five or six years, and legal analysts maintained that in light of this, youths were entitled to the same rights as an adult facing confinement. Others in support of minors' right to a jury trial pointed out that such formal and risky court procedure might instill a respect of the court in juveniles and deter repeat offenses.