Gonzalez v. Florida

555 U.S. 1056, 129 S. Ct. 647, 172 L. Ed. 2d 627 (2008)

From our private database of 46,300+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

Gonzalez v. Florida

United States Supreme Court
555 U.S. 1056, 129 S. Ct. 647, 172 L. Ed. 2d 627 (2008)

Facts

[Editor’s Note: This casebook excerpt is an amicus brief.] Twelve university professors submitted an amicus brief on the petition for writ of certiorari in Gonzalez v. Florida. The professors encouraged the United States Supreme Court to grant certiorari on the issue of whether criminal juries were permitted to have less than 12 jurors under the Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution. The professors explained that in 1970, the Supreme Court ruled in Williams v. Florida, 399 U.S. 78 (1970) that juries composed of 12 jurors were not required. The Williams Court created what the professors referred to as the functional-equivalence test for analyzing whether juries of various sizes were constitutional. Scholars were almost unanimous in their opinion that application of the test was significantly flawed. According to the professors, the Williams Court did not have much empirical data to analyze, and the Court misinterpreted the data it had. The professors explained that the error in Williams with the greatest constitutional significance was the failure to recognize that, unlike 12-person juries, six-person juries were far less likely to have even one juror from a minority group. More recent empirical studies demonstrated this. The professors asserted that guidance on what the Constitution required regarding jury size was lacking. Eight years after Williams, the Supreme Court had tacitly abandoned the functional-equivalence test in Ballew v. Georgia, 435 U.S. 223 (1978). The Ballew Court unanimously ruled that criminal juries composed of only five jurors did not meet the constitutional minimum. There were four opinions in Ballew, but none used the functional-equivalence test to reach the Court’s holding. After Ballew, there was no consistent method for assessing constitutional questions regarding jury sizes. As was to be expected, a split occurred among the states. The professors asserted that if the Supreme Court did not provide guidance on how to analyze what the Constitution required regarding jury size, confusion would increase. The professors encouraged the Supreme Court to grant certiorari.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning ()

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 815,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

Here's why 815,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 815,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,300 briefs - keyed to 988 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership