Gamble v. United States (17-646)
argument 17-646Gamble v. United States
Supreme Court of the United States
6 speakers
8 chapters
transcribed 7 days ago
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What is the central issue of the Double Jeopardy argument in Gamble v. United States?
We will heal our argument this morning in case seventeen six forty six, Gamble versus United States. Mr. Chayton.
Thank you, Mr. Chief Justice, and may it please the Court. The separate sovereign's exception to the Double Jeopardy Clause is inconsistent with the text and origin original meaning of the Double Jeopardy Clause. There is no dispute that the text of the clause was understood to incorporate English practice, and there was no practice of inter sovereign successive prosecutions in all of English history or in American history for the first century of this republic after the framing. There is also a mountain of affirmative evidence that in England, even a foreign acquittal by a court of competent and current jur concurrent jurisdiction bars a sub uh sub subsequent prosecution in England for the type for the same opinion.
Excuse me, Chief.
Your leading authority is a foreign prosecution. Um uh in England of the the in the Spanish case. And the argument on the other side, which has some traction I think is that it would be quite unusual or surprising for the new American Republic to look to Europe in a question like that, because The one concern it applies both in the English situation as well is that it would be a significant intrusion on sovereignty, a particular concern of the new uh uh new American Republic to allow a foreign prosecution to limit the authority of um of the the United States. It i and frankly it's surprising even in the the English case. I mean the the relations between Spain and England were not exactly the the best. And why I mean if if it were a Spanish case involving the murder of Englishmen,
Uh would the English court really have said well he Tried in Spain, so we're our hands are tied. Well there's
overwhelming evidence, as I said, that that is the English rule, and there's no dispute that the framers were incorporating English practice into the double jeopardy clause. Any any
country in the world?
Any country in the world? Yes, if there's well it I'm I'm sorry.
If there's a a prior criminal proceeding, w either an acquittal or a conviction, any country in the world that would count.
So so there are a few requirements. Um one, it would have to be the same offense. So you would have to meet the English standard, which is in fact the standard of this court today.
It isn't clear. I mean th I thought when I read your brief, well You're absolutely right. But then I read the other side on the practice. And now I'm not going to say you're absolutely wrong. But three times the Court has considered your arguments Looked at those cases. The English case, Hutchinson. No report. Later cases refer to it. There was a complexity involving a special commission designed to try people who had committed murder outside the country. The King's Bench didn't have authority. The King's Bench referred it to that commission and that Commission said, Well, he was acquitted in Portugal and therefore we will not try him in this special commission designed to Daughter. And does that reflect A principle of law
Does it reflect something about the Commission? Does it reflect something about the individual circumstances? So far, it seems to me no one has any idea. If you read Gage, You'll discover the other side's argument. And the same is true of the early cases. I won't go through all of them here. But the early cases we find some. Some support you and some that don't.
I I do think they all support us. Yes, I do believe they all support us. And the one the one case you mentioned that is potentially leans the other way is Gage, but it's a civil case and it's analogizing to Hutchinson um for the purposes of of of how a rule about recognition of civil judgments. And there is no ancient rule rooted in Talmud and Roman law and Greek law and canon law and ancient English common law to have your civil judgments recognized by another court. There is not to be prosecuted by f for a successive prosecution.
I'd ask you any country in the world, the judgment of any country in in the world.
So so i if you're asking me what the English rule was, I would say yes that is, but there are three important qualifications on the rule.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the central issue of the Double Jeopardy argument in Gamble v. United States?
0:00–8:43
2
How do the parties interpret the historical English rule on successive prosecutions?
8:43–18:04
3
Why does the petitioner argue that foreign acquittals should bar U.S. prosecutions?
18:04–27:08
4
What are the practical consequences of applying the separate‑sovereign rule to federal and state cases?
27:08–35:23
5
How might the proposed rule affect civil‑rights and other federal enforcement priorities?
35:23–47:06
6
What examples illustrate the potential “race to the courthouse” problem?
47:06–57:44
7
How do stare‑decisis and reliance arguments shape the Court’s decision?
57:44–1:08:03
8
What conclusions do the Justices draw about preserving the longstanding Double Jeopardy doctrine?
1:08:03–1:19:28