TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Barry Kolar on Dec 7, 2018

A long-standing precedent that allows a state and the federal government to prosecute a person for the same crime — despite the constitutional ban on “double jeopardy” — will likely stay in place, the Associated Press reports in the Bristol Herald Courier. Both conservative and liberal Supreme Court justices hearing an appeal from an Alabama man who was prosecuted in both state and federal court for being a felon in possession of a gun, on Thursday seemed unwilling to make the change. “This is a 170-year-old rule,” said Justice Elena Kagan. It has been repeatedly upheld by more than 30 justices, and Kagan said she was “uncomfortable” in tossing it out now.