• TipRing@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      You can absolutely under the current law be tried by both the state and federal government for the same action if that action violates both state and federal law. See the 2019 case Gamble v. United States for the most recent ruling on it, but the idea is that the state and federal government are “separate sovereigns” and so it doesn’t violate the double jeopardy clause.

      In practice doing so is unusual and DoJ guidelines discourage federal prosecutors from pursuing cases that are prosecuted by the states, but there is no law preventing them from doing so.