# *Harrison v. United States*

October 1, 2000 • Legal Briefs 

By [Tim Lynch](https://www.cato.org/people/tim-lynch) 

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Cato’s brief contests the “petty offense” exception to the Sixth Amendment right to trial by jury, claiming that it has led to gross miscarriages of justice. The “petty offense” exception is incompatible with Article III’s guarantee of a trial by jury for “all crimes” and the Sixth Amendment’s provision of an “impartial jury” for “all criminal prosecutions.” The Framers saw this right as absolute, so an exception for “petty” crimes is a constitutional perversion.

[![Media Name: harrisonvus.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/serial_cover_phone/public/pubs/covers/harrisonvus.jpg?itok=Rs6Y69Cn)](https://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/harrisonvus.pdf) 

### Download This Legal Brief

##### *Harrison v. United States* 

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##### About the Authors 

[![Media Name: timlynch-cropped.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/authors/crops/timlynch-cropped.jpg?itok=k28xFe9B)](/people/tim-lynch) 

##### [Tim Lynch](/people/tim-lynch)

Former Adjunct Scholar and Former Director, Project on Criminal Justice 

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](https://twitter.com/CatoTimLynch) [ 

](mailto:tlynch@cato.org) 

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This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/). 

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