PFBA – Judicial Trickery

There are several ways that the judicial system has circumvented the double jeopardy provision of our constitution. One way they do it is by having multiple jurisdictions drag you through court for essentially the same law, but under different jurisdictions. For instance, the state may charge the defendant and lose, to only be followed by the charging the defendant for similar crimes under federal charges. The government does it in such a way that it comes across as being separate charges when in fact they are essentially the same. Someone arrested for disturbing the peace on state charges may be charged with federal terrorism charges. This is an extreme case, but is indicative of current procedure for our judicial system.

Another way the judicial system likes to play games is by drawing out charges and bringing them separately at trial. The government may choose to pursue a handful of charges against the defendant, only to withhold some should the defendant prevail in court. This way, the government can bring the defendant into court again on more charges connected to the same event.

The way to solve this is to force all jurisdictions into one court system. To be honest, a citizen should rarely, if ever, face a federal court. The federal system should operate through the state court systems for cases against individuals.

There should also be a “snapshot in time” rule that forces prosecutors to bring all charges against the defendant at once, or forever forfeit the right to do so down the road. This prevents the government from dragging things out in court and getting multiple shots at a conviction.