Ludwig v. Massachusetts

Ludwig v. Massachusetts
Argued April 26, 1976
Decided June 30, 1976
Full case nameRichard I. Ludwig v. Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Citations427 U.S. 618 (more)
96 S. Ct. 2781; 49 L. Ed. 2d 732; 1976 U.S. LEXIS 1
Case history
PriorCommonwealth v. Ludwig, 368 Mass. 138, 330 N.E.2d 467 (1975); probable jurisdiction noted, 423 U.S. 945 (1975).
Holding
Where a defendant was tried in the lower-trial court, that had no right to a jury, and then appealed to the higher court, whose proceedings would be held de novo with a jury, there was no violation of the right to jury or violation of double jeopardy upon proceedings in the higher tier of the trial court.
Court membership
Chief Justice
Warren E. Burger
Associate Justices
William J. Brennan Jr. · Potter Stewart
Byron White · Thurgood Marshall
Harry Blackmun · Lewis F. Powell Jr.
William Rehnquist · John P. Stevens
Case opinions
MajorityBlackmun, joined by Burger, White, Powell, Rehnquist
ConcurrencePowell
DissentStevens, joined by Brennan, Stewart, Marshall
Laws applied
U.S. Const., Amend. VI U.S. Const., Amend. XIV, U.S. Const., Amend. V,

Ludwig v. Massachusetts, 427 U.S. 618 (1976), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that the Massachusetts two-tier court system did not deprive Ludwig of his U.S. Const., Amend. XIV right to a jury trial and did not violate the double jeopardy clause of the U.S. Const., Amend. V.