Section 24 DoubleJeopardy Issues

• Library: Juvenile Law 2011

The courts have considered several issues involving the Fifth Amendment’s double jeopardy clause, as applied to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment, in relation to the dismissal of juvenile court charges to allow prosecution under the general law. The cases concern multiple proceedings in the criminal and juvenile court related to the same offense.

In Breed v. Jones, 421 U.S. 519 (1975), the Supreme Court considered one of these contentions. In Breed, a robbery petition was filed and adjudicated in juvenile court. After adducing evidence and finding the allegations to be true, the Court continued the cause to be reset for a dispositional hearing. Before that hearing was held, the juvenile court dismissed its petition to allow prosecution as an adult. The juvenile was subsequently convicted in a court of general criminal jurisdiction.

The Supreme Court held that this procedure unconstitutionally placed the juvenile twice in jeopardy for the same offense. The
Court stated: “We require only that . . . a State determine whether
it...