The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear a case in its next term that deals with whether the Fifth Amendment’s double jeopardy clause prevents a person from being tried in both state and federal court for the same crime.
The case is a challenge to the court’s long-held view that because the states and federal governments are “separate sovereigns,” it is not a violation of the Fifth Amendment for someone to be prosecuted in federal and state court for the same offense.
The case involves Terance Gamble, who was convicted of second-degree robbery in Alabama in 2008 and under federal and state law, was barred from possessing a firearm, according to court filings.
In 2015, Gamble was found to be in possession of a 9-millimeter handgun after he was pulled over for a traffic violation. The state of Alabama prosecuted Gamble for being a felon in possession of a firearm, and the same incident led to federal charges.
Gamble argued the federal prosecution violated his Fifth Amendment rights and moved to dismiss the charge.
A district court disagreed, citing the separate-sovereigns exception, under which a defendant can be prosecuted by both a state and federal court.
Gamble was ultimately sentenced to 46 months in prison and three years of supervised release.
He went on to appeal to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which affirmed the ruling from the lower court and said Gamble’s double-jeopardy claim does not hold up unless the Supreme Court overturns the separate-sovereigns exception.
Gamble’s lawyers argued in court documents that the underpinnings of the separate-sovereigns exception have been eroded by the Supreme Court over time and said the court “vaporized” the separate-sovereigns exception’s doctrinal foundations in 1969.
They also said federal criminal law has “ballooned” to the point where the federal government has effectively duplicated state laws.
Gamble’s case will be before the justices next term, which starts in October. He is expected to be released from federal prison in February 2020, roughly three years after he would’ve been freed from state prison.
