Apodaca v. Oregon

Infobox SCOTUS case
Litigants = Apodaca v. Oregon
ArgueDate = March 1
ArgueYear = 1971
ReargueDate = January 10
ReargueYear = 1972
DecideDate = May 22
DecideYear = 1972
FullName = Apodaca et al. v. Oregon
USVol = 406
USPage = 404
Citation =
Prior =
Subsequent =
Holding = There is no constitutional right to a unanimous jury verdict in criminal cases. Thus Oregon's law did not violate due process. (plurality opinion)
SCOTUS = 1972-1975
Majority = White
JoinMajority = Burger, Blacknum, Rehnquist
Concurrence = Powell
JoinConcurrence =
Dissent = Douglas
JoinDissent = Brennan, Marshall
Dissent2 = Brennan
JoinDissent2 = Marshall
Dissent3 = Stewart
JoinDissent3 = Brennan, Marshall
Dissent4 = Marshall
JoinDissent4 = Brennan
LawsApplied =

"Apodaca v. Oregon", ussc|406|404|1972 is a United States Supreme Court case that established that although federal law required that federal juries must reach criminal verdicts unanimously, state juries may convict a defendant by less than unanimity. The four-justice plurality opinion of the court, written by Justice White, affirmed the judgment of the Oregon Court of Appeals, and held that there was no constitutional right to a unanimous verdict. Thus Oregon's law did not violate due process.

Justice Powell, in his concurring opinion, argued that there was such a constitutional right in the Sixth Amendment, but that the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause does not incorporate that right as applied to the states.

This case is part of a line of cases interpreting if and how the Sixth Amendment is applied against the states through the Fourteenth Amendment for the purposes of incorporation doctrine, although the division of opinions prevented a clear-cut answer to that question in this case.

Arguing the case for the state of Oregon were Jacob Tanzer and Lee Johnson, both would later serve on the Oregon Court of Appeals.

ee also

*List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 406

External links

* [http://www.enfacto.com/case/U.S./406/404/ Apodaca v. Oregon, 406 U.S. 404 (1972)] (opinion full text).