## Facts

- Luis M. Sánchez Valle and Jaime Gómez Vázquez each sold a firearm to an undercover police officer in Puerto Rico.
- Puerto Rico charged each defendant under the Puerto Rico Arms Act of 2000 for illegal firearm sales.
- While the territorial cases were pending, federal grand juries indicted both defendants for the same transactions under analogous federal firearm statutes.
- Each defendant pleaded guilty in federal court.
- The defendants moved to dismiss the Puerto Rico prosecutions, arguing the Double Jeopardy Clause barred successive prosecutions because Puerto Rico and the United States are not separate sovereigns.
- Puerto Rico trial courts dismissed the territorial charges; the intermediate appellate court reversed; the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico reinstated dismissal; the U.S. Supreme Court granted review.

## Issues

1. Whether Puerto Rico and the United States are “separate sovereigns” under the dual-sovereignty doctrine, permitting successive prosecutions for the same conduct without violating the Double Jeopardy Clause.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico.
- The Court held that Puerto Rico and the United States are not separate sovereigns for Double Jeopardy purposes because their prosecutorial authority derives from the same ultimate source: Congress.
- Therefore, the Double Jeopardy Clause bars Puerto Rico from prosecuting defendants for the same conduct after federal prosecution under equivalent criminal laws.
- Justice Ginsburg (joined by Justice Thomas) concurred in the judgment and questioned the dual-sovereignty doctrine’s validity in a future case.
- Justice Breyer (joined by Justice Sotomayor) dissented, arguing Puerto Rico’s present-day self-government should render it a separate sovereign.

## Legal Principles

- The Double Jeopardy Clause generally prohibits successive prosecutions for the same offense, but the dual-sovereignty doctrine allows successive prosecutions by separate sovereigns.
- “Separate sovereign” status turns on the “ultimate source” of prosecutorial power, not the degree of current autonomy or self-governance.
- Two prosecuting entities are separate sovereigns only if each draws its power to punish from an independent original source.
- Puerto Rico’s authority to enact and enforce its criminal laws, including under its constitution, ultimately comes from congressional authorization; its constitution does not supply an independent source of prosecutorial power distinct from Congress.

## Conclusion

Because Puerto Rico’s and the federal government’s prosecutorial authority ultimately originates from Congress, they are the same sovereign for Double Jeopardy purposes, so Puerto Rico may not bring a successive prosecution based on the same conduct after a federal prosecution under equivalent laws.


Puerto Rico v. Sanchez Valle, 136 S. Ct. 1863 (2016)