Washington, DC – On news today that the Supreme Court handed down a 6-3 decision in Blueford v. State of Arkansas – a major double jeopardy case in which a jury unanimously had said a criminal defendant was not guilty of murder – Constitutional Accountability Center released the following statement:

CAC President Doug Kendall said, “I don’t know how you declare yourself to be an ‘originalist’ and find double jeopardy not to attach in this case.  As Justice Sotomayor explained, the facts of this case are precisely why the Founders added the Double Jeopardy clause to our Bill of Rights.  It’s a sad day for the Constitution’s text and history.”

CAC Chief Counsel Elizabeth Wydra said, “As the only former trial court judge on the Supreme Court bench, Justice Sotomayor knows well the threat to individual freedom from giving the prosecution two bites at the apple.”

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Resources:

CAC’s “friend of the court” brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in Blueford v. Arkansas:  http://theusconstitution.org/writ-certiorari-arkansas-supreme-court

CAC’s Text and History Blog: “Double Jeopardy and the Protection of Trial By Jury: Supreme Court To Hear Oral Argument in Blueford v. Arkansas,” February 17, 2012: http://theusconstitution.org/text-history/1305/double-jeopardy-and-protection-trial-jury-supreme-court-hear-oral-argument

Supreme Court opinion in Blueford v. Arkansas: http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/11pdf/10-1320.pdf

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Constitutional Accountability Center (www.theusconstitution.org) is a think tank, public interest law firm, and action center dedicated to fulfilling the progressive promise of the Constitution’s text and history.

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