NCJ Number
130636
Journal
Criminal Justice Journal Volume: 12 Issue: 1 Dated: (Winter 1990) Pages: 1-12
Date Published
1990
Length
12 pages
Annotation
In a 1985 decision, Heath v. Alabama, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that prosecutions by two States against the same defendant for the same crime did not violate the man's fifth amendment right against double jeopardy. Two 1959 decisions, Bartkus v. Illinois and Abbate v. United States, led the way to hold that the prohibition against double jeopardy is inapplicable to successive Federal-State prosecutions.
Abstract
However, the author argues that the Heath case was wrongly decided because the Court failed to set forth any analysis based on the interests of the respective governments in their prosecutions and because it relied too heavily on the dual sovereignty theory. As the Court eroded all constitutional protection against prosecutions by different States, the author suggests that States reestablish the double jeopardy prohibition through legislation, protection by State courts, and State administrative procedures. 46 notes