Blockburger v. United States
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Blockburger v. United States'', 284 U.S. 299 (1932), was a case in which the
Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
set an important standard to prevent
double jeopardy In jurisprudence, double jeopardy is a procedural defence (primarily in common law jurisdictions) that prevents an accused person from being tried again on the same (or similar) charges following an acquittal or conviction and in rare case ...
.


Background

The defendant was charged with violations of the
Harrison Narcotics Act The Harrison Narcotics Tax Act (Ch. 1, ) was a United States federal law that regulated and taxed the production, importation, and distribution of opiates and coca products. The act was proposed by United States Representative, Representative Fra ...
. Specifically, he was
indicted An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use the felonies concept often use that of an ...
on five separate counts, all involving the sale of
morphine Morphine is a strong opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin in poppies (''Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as a analgesic, pain medication, and is also commonly used recreational drug, recreationally, or to make ...
to the same purchaser. The jury returned a verdict against petitioner upon the second, third, and fifth counts only. The second count charged a sale on a specified day of ten
grains A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legume ...
of the drug not in or from the original stamped package. The third count charged a sale on the following day of eight grains of the drug not in or from the original stamped package. The fifth count charged the latter sale also as having been made not in pursuance of a written order of the purchaser as required by the statute. The district court sentenced petitioner to five years'
imprisonment Imprisonment is the restraint of a person's liberty, for any cause whatsoever, whether by authority of the government, or by a person acting without such authority. In the latter case it is "false imprisonment". Imprisonment does not necessari ...
and a
fine Fine may refer to: Characters * Sylvia Fine (''The Nanny''), Fran's mother on ''The Nanny'' * Officer Fine, a character in ''Tales from the Crypt'', played by Vincent Spano Legal terms * Fine (penalty), money to be paid as punishment for an offe ...
of $2,000 upon each count, the terms of imprisonment to run consecutively. The judgment was affirmed on appeal by the
Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (in case citations, 7th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the courts in the following districts: * Central District of Illinois * Northern District of Ill ...
. The defendant advanced two legal theories as his defense: #The two sales charged in the second and third counts had been made to the same person constitute a single continuous offense. #The sale charged in the third count had been made not from the original stamped package, and the same sale charged in the fifth count had been made not in pursuance of a written order of the purchaser, which constituted one offense for which only a single penalty could lawfully be imposed.


Decision

Justice Sutherland, writing for a unanimous court, first held that the two sales, having been made at different times (albeit to the same person), were two separate and distinct violations of the law. He then held that under the statute, two distinct offenses are created by each section. Section 1 of the Act created the offense of selling any of the forbidden drugs except in or from the original stamped package, and Section 2 creates the offense of selling any of such drugs not in pursuance of a written order of the person to whom the drug is sold. Because the defendant had violated both sections, he could be prosecuted separately under the therland reasoned negatively: While Sutherland conceded that the penalties under the Act were harsh, he wrote that it was up to
Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...
, rather than the courts, to change the sentencing scheme. Although the case is often cited for the standard that it set with regard to double jeopardy, the Fifth Amendment to the
US Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the nation ...
is not mentioned anywhere in the text of the opinion itself. The landmark case established the "same elements test" to determine if two offenses are the same for the purposes of double jeopardy. Under the ''Blockburger'' test, a defendant may be convicted of two offenses arising out of the same criminal incident if each crime contains an element that is not found in the other. The appellate court determines whether each crime contains an element that is not found in the other by examining only the relevant statute, the information and the bill of particulars, not by examining the evidence presented at trial. ''State v. Tweedy'', 594 A.2d 906 (Conn. 1991).


References


External links

* * {{Fifth Amendment crimpro, jeopardy, state=expanded 1932 in United States case law United States Supreme Court cases United States Supreme Court cases of the Hughes Court United States Double Jeopardy Clause case law United States controlled substances case law Morphine