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Supreme Court judges Clarence Thomas and Ruth Bader Ginsburg could lead an unusual liberal-conservative coalition to block federal and state prosecutions for the same crime. (Photo: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI AFP / Getty Images)
WASHINGTON – An Unusual Coalition of Liberal and Conservative Supreme Court Justices May Be Prepared to Prevent Federal and State Governments From Prosecuting Suspects Twice the same crime.
If this seems self-evident, think again: the "double sovereignty" exception to the fifth incrimination clause of the fifth amendment allowed Mississippi to condemn Edgar Ray Killen for the murder of three defenders of human rights committed in 1964 after federal charges were not retained.
This helped the federal government. The government sentenced two Los Angeles police officers to Rodney King's infamous beating in 1991 after the county jury acquitted four officers of almost all charges.
Last year, a South Carolina police officer pleaded guilty to the shooting death of Walter Scott, a black man without weapons, after blocking a jury of 39; State.
This could even help the investigation of the special advocate Robert Mueller on the interferences of Russia in the elections of 2016.. If President Donald Trump forgives former campaign president Paul Manafort for tax evasion and bank fraud offenses, Mueller could turn to state courts.
However, most legal analysts agree that the Constitution could be given priority by the Supreme Court.
Paul Cassell, Professor of Law at the University of Utah SJ According to the Quinney College of Law, advocates of federal-state overlap may quote "the government's requirements for public policy". But a ban on double jeopardy, he says, represents "fundamental values".
One crime, two sentences
The case to be heard on Thursday is one of the court's most important cases: a decision against the Trump administration, backed by 36 states, would upset 170 years of history and would create high court precedents dating back nearly 60 years.
This would give a victory to Terance Gamble, sentenced to one year in prison in Alabama and 46 months by the federal government for the same crime with a firearm in 2015. Two lower courts upheld these sentences, citing a precedent of the Supreme Court. 19659006] Although conditions are concurrent, Gamble will not be released until 2020. If the federal government had been set aside from a second lawsuit, it would be a free man.
"The purpose of the double jeopa A clause," his lawyers argue in court documents, "is a protection against this oldest and most fundamental plague."
Two years ago, the court ruled 6-2 that Puerto Rico could not prosecute a suspect as a result of his federal conviction. because the territory, unlike states, derives its power from the United States. But Associate Judge Elena Kagan, writing on behalf of the majority, said that state sovereignty was "the very foundation of our union".
Not so fast, Associate Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote in a contest ruled by Associate Judge Clarence Thomas. suggested that the High Court reconsider the dual federal-state sovereignty in a future case.
"Ordinarily, a final judgment rendered in a criminal case, just like a final judgment rendered in a civil case, should prohibit the renewal of the battle anywhere in the nation," writes Ginsburg.
Complications for Mueller?
This view is shared by many supporters who argue that the dual criminality clause prevents prosecutors from abusing it, arguing that it helps to get negotiations because the defendants can not hope for a second trial.
In addition, nearly half of the states already have dual criminality prohibitions, which is important for Mueller's lawsuits against Manafort, as the special advocate states are then asked to lay charges in addition to the federal charges
Ironically, the government's position would help Mueller in the event of Trump's pardon by clearing federal taxes. ales, it would be possible to judge it on the state's tax burden.
"Even if Trump granted everyone the greatest grace, all state laws would still be in effect," says law professor Adam Kurland. at the Howard University School of Law, who wrote a memoir of friends of the court on behalf of his Civil Rights Center Thurgood Marshall.
