| Heath v. Alabama | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Argued October 9, 1985 Decided December 3, 1985 | |
| Full case name | Larry Gene Heath v. Alabama |
| Citations | 474 U.S. 82 (more) 106 S. Ct. 433; 88 L. Ed. 2d 387 |
| Case history | |
| Prior | convicted, Superior Court of Troup County, Georgia, affirmed 456 So.2d 898 (Ala. Crim. App. 1988), affirmed again Ex parte Heath, 455 So.2d 905 (1984). |
| Subsequent | Post-conviction proceedings at 536 So. 2d 142 (Ala. Crim. App. 1988); habeas denied, 941 F.2d 1126 (11th Cir. 1991), cert. denied Heath v. Jones, 502 U.S. 1077 (1992); motion to set execution date granted, Heath v. Jones, 601 So. 2d 217 (Ala. 1992). |
| Holding | |
| The Fifth Amendment rule against double jeopardy does not prohibit two different states from separately prosecuting and convicting the same individual for the same illegal act. | |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | O'Connor, joined by Burger, White, Blackmun, Powell, Rehnquist, Stevens |
| Dissent | Brennan, joined by Marshall |
| Dissent | Marshall, joined by Brennan |
| Laws applied | |
| U.S. Const. amends. V, XIV | |
Heath v. Alabama, 474 U.S. 82 (1985), is a case in which the United States Supreme Court ruled that, because of the doctrine of "dual sovereignty" (the concept that the United States and each state possess sovereignty – a consequence of federalism), the double jeopardy clause of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution does not prohibit one state from prosecuting and punishing somebody for an act of which they had already been convicted of and sentenced for in another state.
This decision is one of several that holds that the Fifth Amendment does not forbid the U.S. federal government and a state government, or the governments of more than one state, from prosecuting the same individual separately for the same illegal act.