DeBacker v. Brainard (1969)
- Docket
- 15
- Decided
- 1969-01-01
- Category
- General
Summary
Question: (1) Does the Nebraska Juvenile Court Act, which denies juveniles a trial by jury, violate the Sixth Amendment? (2) Does a state statute requiring proof only by a preponderance of the evidence violate the Fourteenth Amendment? Conclusion: No answer. In a per curiam opinion, the Supreme Court dismissed certiorari as improvidently granted. DeBacker’s hearing took place before the Court decided Duncan and Bloom . Those cases only applied prospectively, so they did not apply to DeBacker. The Court could not answer DeBacker’s second question because he had not objected to the standard during the criminal hearing. DeBacker also failed to show that the judge would have ruled differently under a different standard Justice William O. Douglas dissented, expressing that the Duncan and Bloom decisions should apply retroactively. Justice Hugo L. Black also dissented, writing that the “prospective only application” of constitutional decisions amounted to a judicial amendment to the Constitution.