Also known as: separate sovereign · separate-sovereigns · dual sovereignty · dual-sovereignty doctrine
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A doctrine providing that the federal government and each state count as independent sovereigns whose successive prosecutions of the same conduct do not violate the Double Jeopardy Clause.
Stephen Shaw was convicted in State A for falsifying loan documents at Summit Bank. State B then charged him with the identical conduct under its own fraud statute. The trial court denied his double-jeopardy motion because each state acts as a separate sovereign.
Spencer Silver was convicted in federal court for submitting false invoices on a city contract. The city then filed its own charges based on the same invoices. The court rejected his motion because the federal government and the municipality are not the same sovereign.
Simone Sanders was acquitted in State C court of drug possession. The city within State C then prosecuted her for the same possession under a local ordinance. The motion to dismiss succeeded because a state and its municipality are not separate sovereigns.
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Sean Steele was convicted federally for immigration violations arising from false documents. State D later charged him with related state offenses based on the same documents. The court denied dismissal because the federal government and the state are separate sovereigns.
Stella Shapiro was convicted in State E for conspiracy to divert pharmaceuticals from a warehouse there. State F then prosecuted her for the same conspiracy involving its own warehouse. The court denied the motion because each state is a separate sovereign.
No. Each state is a separate sovereign that derives its authority from its own people and may enforce its own criminal laws. The Double Jeopardy Clause limits only repeated prosecutions by the same sovereign.
Yes. The federal government and each state are distinct sovereigns. Successive prosecutions by different sovereigns do not violate double jeopardy even when the conduct is the same.
No. A state and its municipalities are not separate sovereigns. A conviction or acquittal in one therefore bars prosecution by the other for the same offense.
Each state may proceed. Because the states are separate sovereigns, the Double Jeopardy Clause does not bar the second prosecution even if the underlying acts are identical.
…of Confederation, and reflects the dual citizenship the Constitution provided to all Americans after replacing that “league” of separate sovereign States. Gibbons v. Ogden , 9 Wheat. 1, 187 (1824); see 3 J. Story, Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States §1800, p. 675 (1833). By virtue of a person’s citizenship in a…