Supreme Court could end 6-person juries. For Florida, it would be a seismic shift

Four years ago, Palm Beach County prosecutors charged a local chiropractor with practicing medicine with a suspended license amid allegations of inappropriate contact with patients.

The chiropractor, Hamed Kian, pleaded not guilty and took his case to trial. Like thousands of similarly charged defendants, he went before a jury of six people.

They found him guilty. A judge sentenced him to a year in prison plus five years’ probation.

While that could have been the end of the matter, the U.S. Supreme Court recently took an interest in Kian’s case. Late last month, the high court agreed to hear arguments from Kian’s lawyers, who say he had a right to a jury of 12 people, which he would have received in most other states. Florida law, which allows six people in most felony cases, is unconstitutional, they say.