The Supreme Court against the Criminal Jury : Lexington Books : 9780739136225 : 0739136224 : 12 Jun 2014 : The Supreme Court against the Criminal Jury: Social Science and the Palladium of Liberty is an analysis of the United States Supreme Court decisions in what has come to be called the ?jury-size? and ?jury-decision rule? cases. In Williams v. Florida (1970) andBallew v. Georgia (1978), a majority of the Supreme Court looked to history, empirical studies, and functional analysis to support its claim that there was ?no discernible difference? between the verdicts of juries of six and juries of twelve. In the process the Court also decided that the number twelve was an historical accident and that the twelve-member jury was not an essential ingredient of trial by jury. Two years later, the Court, following essentially the same line of reasoning used inWilliams, decided in the companion casesApodaca v. Oregon (1972) and Johnson v. Louisiana (1972) that defendants were as well served w