Court Opinion

ID: 9823988
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-01 10:20:09.936132+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:39:30.807864
License: Public Domain

Justice THOMAS,
concurring in part and concurring in the judgment.
The Court today concludes that the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the United States are not separate sovereigns because the Federal Government is the ultimate source of Puerto Rico’s authority to prosecute crimes. Ante, at 1876. I agree with that holding, which hews to the Court’s precedents concerning the Double Jeopardy Clause and U.S. Territories. But I continue to have concerns about our precedents regarding Indian law, see United States v. Lara, 541 U.S. 193, 214-226, 124 S.Ct. 1628, 158 L.Ed.2d 420 (2004) (opinion concurring in judgment), and I cannot join the portions of the opinion concerning the application of the Double Jeopardy Clause to successive prosecutions involving Indian tribes. Aside from this caveat, I join the Court’s opinion.