Reading Room Document

Applicability of the Double Jeopardy Clause to Successive Prosecutions by the United States and the District of Columbia

This document discusses the applicability of the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution in the context of potential successive prosecutions by the United States and the District of Columbia for the same acts. The conclusion reached is that because there is an identity of sovereignty between the United States and the District of Columbia, the Double Jeopardy Clause would prevent such successive prosecutions. The document presents questions for review regarding the relationship between the District of Columbia and the United States for double jeopardy purposes, and whether the establishment of a prosecutor's office within the District government would change the application of the Double Jeopardy Clause.

June 14, 1979