Difrancesco, United States v. 449 U.S. 117 (1980)

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DIFRANCESCO, UNITED STATES v. 449 U.S. 117 (1980)

In this case on the double jeopardy clause of the Fifth Amendment a 5–4 Supreme Court sustained the constitutionality of the organized crime control act of 1970, which in special instances granted to the United States the right to appeal a criminal sentence. Justice harry a. blackmun for the majority, rejecting the dissenters' contention that review of a sentence is comparable to the review of a verdict of acquittal, held that a government appeal that succeeded in increasing a sentence did not constitute double jeopardy.

Leonard W. Levy
(1986)

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