Opinion ID: 2356749
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Successive prosecutions by different sovereigns.

Text: The double jeopardy principle is implicated when an individual is tried in one jurisdiction following final judgment in another. In Abbate v. United States, 359 U.S. 187, 79 S.Ct. 666, 3 L.Ed.2d 729 (1959) and Bartkus v. Illinois, 359 U.S. 121, 79 S.Ct. 676, 3 L.Ed.2d 684 (1959), the Supreme Court held that neither a state prosecution after final judgment in federal court nor a federal prosecution after final judgment in state court is unconstitutional. [24] The decisions cited the principle of dual sovereignty enunciated in United States v. Lanza, 260 U.S. 377, 43 S.Ct. 141, 67 L.Ed. 314 (1922). [25] Justice Black dissented vigorously in both cases. In Bartkus, he examined the history and rationale of the double jeopardy clause, the effect of successive prosecutions on the accused and the availability of preemption to mitigate administrative problems created by disallowing successive prosecutions. He stated that the basic and recurring theme . . . [in double jeopardy is] that it is wrong for a man to `be brought into Danger for the same Offence more than once.' Few principles have been more deeply `rooted in the traditions and conscience of our people.' The Court apparently takes the position that a second trial for the same act is somehow less offensive if one of the trials is conducted by the Federal Government and the other by a State. Looked at from the standpoint of the individual who is being prosecuted, this notion is too subtle for me to grasp. 359 U.S. at 155, 79 S.Ct. at 697 (Black, J., dissenting) (footnote omitted). In Commonwealth v. Mills, 447 Pa. 163, 286 A.2d 638 (1971), this Court held that a second prosecution for the same offense will not be permitted in Pennsylvania if another jurisdiction has prosecuted the individual, unless the Commonwealth's interests were not sufficiently protected in the initial prosecution. We found that the majority in Bartkus first failed to recognize that the interests of the two sovereigns might be the same, but more important . . . failed to really examine the interest of the individual. 447 Pa. at 169, 286 A.2d at 641. Mr. Justice Eagen, speaking for the majority, declared that the double jeopardy clause was an expression of self-evident moral precepts; It is wrong to retry a man for a crime of which he previously has been found innocent, wrong to harass him with vexatious prosecution, and wrong to punish him twice for the same offense. Id. This Court's decision in Mills evidenced acceptance of the view that the double jeopardy clause is designed to limit the number of times an individual may be tried for the same offense, not merely the number of times an individual can be convicted or punished.