Constitution of the United States/Art. III/Sec. 2/Clause 3 Trials

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Constitutional Law Treatise
Table of Contents
US Constitution.jpg
Constitutional Law Outline
Introduction
The Preamble
Article I Legislative Branch
Art. I, Section 1 Legislative Vesting Clause
Art. I, Section 2 House of Representatives
Art. I, Section 3 Senate
Art. I, Section 4 Congress
Art. I, Section 5 Proceedings
Art. I, Section 6 Rights and Disabilities
Art. I, Section 7 Legislation
Art. I, Section 8 Enumerated Powers
Art. I, Section 9 Powers Denied Congress
Art. I, Section 10 Powers Denied States
Article II Executive Branch
Art. II, Section 1 Function and Selection
Art. II, Section 2 Powers
Art. II, Section 3 Duties
Art. II, Section 4 Impeachment
Article III Judicial Branch
Art. III, Section 1 Vesting Clause
Art. III, Section 2 Justiciability
Art. III, Section 3 Treason
Article IV Relationships Between the States
Art. IV, Section 1 Full Faith and Credit Clause
Art. IV, Section 2 Interstate Comity
Art. IV, Section 3 New States and Federal Property
Art. IV, Section 4 Republican Form of Government
Article V Amending the Constitution
Article VI Supreme Law
Article VII Ratification
First Amendment: Fundamental Freedoms
Religion
Establishment Clause
Free Exercise Clause
Free Speech Clause
Freedom of Association
Second Amendment: Right to Bear Arms
Third Amendment: Quartering Soldiers
Fourth Amendment: Searches and Seizures
Fifth Amendment: Rights of Persons
Sixth Amendment: Rights in Criminal Prosecutions
Seventh Amendment: Civil Trial Rights
Eighth Amendment: Cruel and Unusual Punishment
Ninth Amendment: Unenumerated Rights
Tenth Amendment: Rights Reserved to the States and the People
Eleventh Amendment: Suits Against States
Twelfth Amendment: Election of President
Thirteenth Amendment: Abolition of Slavery
Thirteenth Amend., Section 1 Prohibition on Slavery and Involuntary Servitude
Thirteenth Amend., Section 2 Enforcement
Fourteenth Amendment: Equal Protection and Other Rights
Fourteenth Amend., Section 1 Rights
Fourteenth Amend., Section 2 Apportionment of Representation
Fourteenth Amend., Section 3 Disqualification from Holding Office
Fourteenth Amend., Section 4 Public Debt
Fourteenth Amend., Section 5 Enforcement
Fifteenth Amendment: Right of Citizens to Vote
Fifteenth Amend., Section 1 Right to Vote
Fifteenth Amend., Section 2 Enforcement
Sixteenth Amendment: Income Tax
Seventeenth Amendment: Popular Election of Senators
Eighteenth Amendment: Prohibition of Liquor
Eighteenth Amend., Section 1 Prohibition
Eighteenth Amend., Section 2 Enforcement of Prohibition
Eighteenth Amend., Section 3 Ratification Deadline
Nineteenth Amendment: Women's Suffrage
Twentieth Amendment: Presidential Term and Succession
Twentieth Amend., Section 1 Terms
Twentieth Amend., Section 2 Meetings of Congress
Twentieth Amend., Section 3 Succession
Twentieth Amend., Section 4 Congress and Presidential Succession
Twentieth Amend., Section 5 Effective Date
Twentieth Amend., Section 6 Ratification
Twenty-First Amendment: Repeal of Prohibition
Twenty-First Amend., Section 1 Repeal of Eighteenth Amendment
Twenty-First Amend., Section 2 Importation, Transportation, and Sale of Liquor
Twenty-First Amend., Section 3 Ratification Deadline
Twenty-Second Amendment: Presidential Term Limits
Twenty-Second Amend., Section 1 Limit
Twenty-Second Amend., Section 2 Ratification Deadline
Twenty-Third Amendment: District of Columbia Electors
Twenty-Third Amend., Section 1 Electors
Twenty-Third Amend., Section 2 Enforcement
Twenty-Fourth Amendment: Abolition of Poll Tax
Twenty-Fourth Amend., Section 1 Poll Tax
Twenty-Fourth Amend., Section 2 Enforcement
Twenty-Fifth Amendment: Presidential Vacancy
Twenty-Fifth Amend., Section 1 Presidential Vacancy
Twenty-Fifth Amend., Section 2 Vice President Vacancy
Twenty-Fifth Amend., Section 3 Declaration by President
Twenty-Fifth Amend., Section 4 Declaration by Vice President and Others
Twenty-Sixth Amendment: Reduction of Voting Age
Twenty-Sixth Amend., Section 1 Eighteen Years of Age
Twenty-Sixth Amend., Section 2 Enforcement
Twenty-Seventh Amendment: Congressional Compensation

Article III Judicial Branch

Section 2 Justiciability

Clause 3 Trials

Clause Text
The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have directed.

Jury Trials[edit | edit source]

Article III, Section 2, Clause 3 is one of two constitutional provisions--the other being the Sixth Amendment--that provide a right to jury trial in federal criminal cases.[1] In addition to providing such a right generally in all criminal cases except impeachment cases,[2] this Clause also specifies the venue in which a trial must take place: in the state where the crime was committed, or at a place directed by Congress if the crime was not committed within any states.[3] The Sixth Amendment later further imposed other requirements related to the right, including that the trial be speedy and public, and that the trial take place before a jury summoned from the state and district in which the crime was committed.[4]

On June 15, 2023, the Supreme Court decided Smith v. United States[5], a case involving whether the Double Jeopardy Clause prevents retrial of a defendant tried and convicted in an improper venue, or by a jury from the wrong district, in violation of the Constitution's Venue and Vicinage Clauses, respectively.[6] The Court distinguished between judicial decisions of improper venue and verdicts of acquittal, noting that the Court in earlier decisions recognized no protection from retrial when a trial terminates "on a basis unrelated to factual guilt or innocence of the offence of which [the defendant] is accused."[7] Accordingly, the Court found that the Double Jeopardy clause did not bar retrial in a proper venue.

  1. The Supreme Court has held that the Sixth Amendment's right to jury, including the requirement that a jury verdict be unanimous, applies to states through the Fourteenth Amendment. Duncan v. Louisiana, 391 U.S. 145 (1968); see also Ramos v. Louisiana, No. 18-5924, slip op. at 7 (U.S. 2020) (holding that the Sixth Amendment's requirement of a unanimous verdict applies to states through the Fourteenth Amendment).
  2. The Supreme Court, however, has long held that the guarantees of jury trial under Article III, Section 2, Clause 3 and the Sixth Amendment do not apply to petty offenses because at the time of the Constitution's adoption, such offenses were tried summarily without a jury under common law. See Cheff v. Schnackenberg, 384 U.S. 373, 378-79 (1966).
  3. Art. III, Section 2 Justiciability.
  4. Sixth Amendment Rights in Criminal Prosecutions; see generally Sixth Amendment Rights in Criminal Prosecutions.
  5. Smith v. United States, No. 21-1576 (U.S. June 15, 2023).
  6. See generally Art. III, Sec. 2, Clause 3 Trials; Fifth Amendment Rights of Persons; Sixth Amendment Rights in Criminal Prosecutions.
  7. Smith, 15 (citing United States v. Scott, 437 U.S. 82, 99 (1978) (alteration in original)).