Double jeopardy is a legal principle that prohibits a person from being tried or punished twice for the same offence after being acquitted or convicted. It prevents the government from subjecting individuals to repeated prosecutions or punishments for the same conduct, safeguarding against harassment, oppression, and the arbitrary exercise of state power. Double jeopardy applies to both criminal and civil proceedings, preventing successive prosecutions, multiple punishments, or attempts to circumvent prior legal decisions.
n. placing someone on trial a second time for an offence for which he/she has been previously acquitted, even when new incriminating evidence has been unearthed. This is specifically prohibited by the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which states: “Nor shall any person be subject for the same offence [sic] to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb?” However, in rare instances, a person may be tried for a different crime based on some of the same facts that were used to try him/her when he/she was acquitted. A prime example is the use of the Federal Civil Rights Act to charge a person with a violation of another’s civil rights by killing him after a state murder case had resulted in an acquittal, as happened in the 1994 trials for the deaths of civil rights activists and freedom riders Andrew Goldman, Michael Schwerner, James Chaney and Viola Liuzzo that occurred thirty years earlier.
“Double Jeopardy” refers to a legal principle that protects individuals from being prosecuted twice for the same offence. This principle arises from the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution, which prohibits individuals from being tried again on the same or similar charges after being acquitted or convicted. Essentially, if a person has been acquitted (found not guilty) of a crime, they cannot be tried again for that same crime, even if new evidence emerges later. Double jeopardy is intended to prevent the government from unfairly subjecting individuals to multiple prosecutions for the same conduct, thereby safeguarding against harassment and ensuring finality in legal proceedings.
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This glossary post was last updated: 12th April 2024.
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