In the case of Blanton et al. v. City of North Las Vegas, Nevada (1988), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a defendant charged with driving under the influence does not have a constitutional right to a jury trial if the maximum possible jail sentence is six months or less. The court held that petty offenses are not subject to Sixth Amendment protections for serious offenses, which include the right to trial by jury. In this case, defendants Blanton and Fraley were arrested for drunk driving in North Las Vegas and requested jury trials based on their argument that DUI charges should be considered serious due to potential penalties beyond imprisonment such as license suspension and mandatory alcohol education programs; however, these requests were denied because Nevada law only provided for bench trials in cases where imprisonment may not exceed 6 months. The Supreme Court upheld lower courts' decisions stating additional penalties did not make an offense "serious" enough warranting a jury trial.

In the dissenting opinion for Blanton et al. v. City of North Las Vegas, Nevada, Justice Marshall disagreed with the majority's decision to uphold a state law that denied jury trials for crimes punishable by six months or less in jail. He argued that this violated the Sixth Amendment right to trial by jury and was inconsistent with previous Supreme Court rulings which held that any crime carrying potential imprisonment should be considered serious enough to warrant a jury trial. Furthermore, he contended that it is not within the purview of courts to decide what constitutes a "serious" offense; rather, this determination should be left up to legislatures who are better equipped at reflecting societal views on seriousness of offenses through penalties they assign them. Finally, he expressed concern over how such laws could disproportionately affect marginalized communities who may lack resources necessary for effective legal representation outside of a jury setting.