Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Challenge to 8-Person Juries in Criminal Trials

Conservative Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh say they would have heard the Arizona case

Associate justices of the Supreme Court Neil Gorsuch (L) and Brett Kavanaugh (R) in the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Feb. 5, 2019. Doug Mills-Pool/Getty Images

Over the dissent of two conservative justices, the Supreme Court refused on Nov. 7 to take up the case of a man who claimed that it was unconstitutional for Arizona to convict him using a jury made up of just eight people instead of the usual 12.

The ruling means that a handful of states may continue to use six- or eight-person juries in felony trials. Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Massachusetts, and Utah permit the practice, according to an NBC summary.