Juries should have 12 members, USCCB argues in Supreme Court brief

August 20, 2026

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) called upon the Supreme Court to overturn Williams v. Florida, a 1970 ruling that upheld the constitutionality of juries of six members.

“At the Founding, the word ‘jury’ referred, in the context of criminal trials, to an adjudicatory body of twelve people,” the bishops’ conference argued in an August 13 amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief submitted in the case of Kian v. Florida.

The brief added:

Given this history, this Court’s prior holding in Williams v. Florida, 399 U.S. 78 (1970), that the Sixth Amendment does not require twelve-person juries in criminal trials is demonstrably erroneous as a matter of original public meaning. This Court should overrule that decision and return to its previously long-held understanding that the Constitution entitles criminal defendants to a jury of twelve of their peers.

In discussing why the bishops’ conference is interested in the case, the brief stated:

The Catholic Church has played an important role in the historical development of safeguards that protect the moral legitimacy of criminal adjudication. The jury-trial right is no exception. Jury trials emerged when the Church forbade clergy from participating in earlier methods of adjudicating criminal disputes. And the USCCB believes that a fair criminal process requires faithful adherence to the procedural protections that a legal system has established for safeguarding the dignity of the accused.

William Quinn, the USCCB’s general counsel, was joined by Noel Francisco, former Solicitor General of the United States (2017-20), in submitting the brief. The Innocence Project, the Cato Institute, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the NAACP also filed briefs in the case.

 

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Further information:

• Full text of brief (USCCB, 8/14/26)