Chapter Thirty-One: Double Jeopardy (3)
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for two sovereign entities to charge one defendant under the same set of facts under two different laws and legal authorities.
The majority opinion, written by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, reasons that the clause protects defendants from “successive prosecutions” for the same offense but “does not prohibit twice placing a person in jeopardy” for the same conduct. Barrett goes on to conclude that, “Denezpi’s single act led to separate prosecutions for violations of a tribal ordinance and a federal statute. Because the Tribe and the Federal Government are distinct sovereigns, those ‘of- fence[s]’ are not ‘the same.’ ”
Conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch dissented, joined in part by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. Gorsuch raise...
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