Double Trouble: Double Jeopardy's Dual Sovereignty Exception and State Immigration Statutes

20 Pages Posted: 13 Dec 2011 Last revised: 29 Mar 2012

See all articles by Gregory Schneider

Gregory Schneider

University of Arizona - James E. Rogers College of Law; Squire Patton Boggs (US) LLP

Gabriel "Jack" Chin

University of California, Davis - School of Law

Date Written: December 12, 2011

Abstract

Arizona, along with other states, has begun enacting laws attempting to control the movement of undocumented non-citizens within and across its borders. This extraordinary new wave of legislation creates a serious vertical separation of powers problem, risking frustration of federal immigration policy. Although there are a number of reasons that the state action may be unconstitutional, this article focuses on the heretofore unexplored role of the Double Jeopardy Clause.

The dual sovereignty exception to the Double Jeopardy Clause of the United States Constitution allows for successive prosecutions for the same offense, so long as each prosecuting jurisdiction bases the prosecution on its own authority. Two jurisdictions may not prosecute the same offense if each is drawing from the same source of power. States do not have their own authority to enact laws that regulate immigration. Defenders of state regulation do not deny federal primacy in the immigration area, but propose that states have been implicitly invited to assist in carrying out federal policy by enacting state laws.

This article suggests that courts should be slow to conclude that the federal government has invited the states to enact legislation. If states have the authority to prosecute immigration cases, that means that the federal government is divested of its power to act in any case where the state prosecutes first. A court, therefore, should uphold state immigration prosecutions only if it is convinced not only that the law is not preempted or unconstitutional for some other reason, but also that the United States intentionally decided to give the states authority to override federal decision making in the immigration arena.

Keywords: immigration, double jeopardy, federalism, preemption, SB1070

JEL Classification: K14, K23, K42

Suggested Citation

Schneider, Gregory and Schneider, Gregory and Chin, Gabriel Jackson, Double Trouble: Double Jeopardy's Dual Sovereignty Exception and State Immigration Statutes (December 12, 2011). Arizona Journal of International and Comparative Law, Vol. 28, p. 353, 2011, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1971442

Gregory Schneider

University of Arizona - James E. Rogers College of Law ( email )

P.O. Box 210176
Tucson, AZ 85721-0176
United States
520-261-1381 (Phone)

Squire Patton Boggs (US) LLP ( email )

Cleveland, OH
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.squiresanders.com/gregory-schneider/

Gabriel Jackson Chin (Contact Author)

University of California, Davis - School of Law ( email )

Martin Luther King, Jr. Hall
400 Mrak Hall Dr.
Davis, CA 95616-5201
United States
520-401-6586 (Phone)
530-754-5311 (Fax)

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