As of 2007, nine states have given juveniles the constitutional right to request a jury trial. Eleven other states will allow a jury trial in very narrow circumstances, such as when juveniles may be subject to adult detention facilities, violent and serial offenders, as well as juveniles seeking appellate review of their disposition. This leaves thirty-one jurisdictions, including Maine, that have fallen under the shadow of the Supreme Court's McKeiver v. Pennsylvania to not yet expand jury trials in juvenile courts. But the landscape of juvenile courts looks very different today than it did forty-three years ago, when the McKeiver decision was made. The juvenile system is no longer so distinct from the penal system; in fact, juvenile courts have developed many punitive practices that run counter to the idea of ​​a purely rehabilitative focus. This article will focus on the origins of the jury trial and the juvenile justice system, the constitutional arguments that make jury trials necessary in juvenile courts, the policy arguments for operating such jury trials, and how jury trials are fit and therefore should be included in jury trials. the Maine Juvenile Code.I. A Brief History of the Right to a Jury Trial The right to a jury trial is one of the fundamental concepts underpinning the American justice system. It had been in English common law practice for several centuries, and the American founders found it necessary to continue the practice and incorporate it into the United States Constitution. Before the Sixth Amendment, the Constitution guaranteed trial by jury for all crimes except impeachment. In 1968 the Supreme Court consolidated this right in Duncan v. Louisiana stating that juries are a necessary control for g...... middle of paper ...... reading the above-mentioned purposes of the code together, it is arguable that the code requires jury trials. If the court wanted to fully guarantee the rights of minors in the face of punitive consequences, then minors should have all the same rights as their counterparts in criminal court, including a jury trial.VI. Conclusion It is clear that if not under the Sixth Amendment, due process under the Fourteenth Amendment mandates jury trials in juvenile courts because the system has evolved to include punitive consequences. Since the focus is no longer purely rehabilitative, juvenile courts become more similar to the criminal system, and therefore McKeiver should no longer be relied upon. Jury trials represent the next logical step in this development and can be implemented by amending already extensive legislation to truly ensure children have all the rights they are owed..