Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Definition

The double jeopardy clause in the Fifth Amendment to the U. S. Constitution prohibits the government from prosecuting individuals more than one time for a single offense and from imposing more than one punishment for a single offense.

The protection against double jeopardy must still be afforded to criminal defendants because the Fifth Amendment's Double Jeopardy Clause has been made applicable to state proceedings via the doctrine of incorporation. Under this doctrine, the Supreme Court has ruled in a series of cases that the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment guarantee to the citizens of every state the right to exercise certain fundamental liberties.

2 comments:

  1. Hey Guys,

    I really enjoyed your presentation, most importantly the delivery helps you to remember. Double jeopardy is great. Who wants to keep getting punished for the same thing over and over. I find it very important for our justice system to have this in place. Once a debt is paid, this clause prevents from others trying bite from the apple as well. Just imagine if you can be tried a punished just to be tried and punished again. This would be a direct violation of our freedoms.

    Enrique

    ReplyDelete
  2. Kimberly here:
    Thank you for your comment and its funny to think that before this concept of Double Jeopardy existed powerful people sitting in judgment of others could do anything they wanted to make your life miserable legally and keep doing it ! And yes, even though some bad guys may use it to their advantage from time to time, I think it helps way more than it hurts.

    ReplyDelete