Politics

New York Wants To Create Double Jeopardy Crisis For Citizens In Order To Attack Trump

REUTERS/Leah Millis

Virginia Kruta Associate Editor
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New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood responded to President Donald Trump’s decision to pardon Dinesh D’Souza by calling for an end to “New York’s double jeopardy loophole.”

Underwood released a statement on Thursday, asking New York legislators to pass a bill that was initially proposed by disgraced former AG Eric Schneiderman. That bill would open the door to prosecute under state law people who had received presidential pardons for “parallel federal crimes.” (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Dinesh D’Souza Tells Backstory Of His Pardon)

New York’s double jeopardy law currently forbids a second prosecution for the same crime absent new evidence, and is a reflection of the federal double jeopardy protection written into the 5th Amendment of the Constitution. Even states that do not have a specific double jeopardy law on the books are bound through incorporation to abide by the federal statute.

Underwood said that she was driven to write the statement following D’Souza’s pardon because “President Trump’s latest pardon makes crystal clear his willingness to use his pardon power to thwart the cause of justice, rather than advance it.”