Why is the protection from double jeopardy important?

Answer 1

First off, it's not a law; it's a constitutional right for all Americans. It is embedded in the 5th Amendment to the United States Constitution. It was adopted at the Philadelphia Convention by the First U.S. Congress on December 15, 1791. Its reason for existence is simple: If you were on trial, would you want to be tried multiple times? Doesn't that dismiss the justice system altogether? I mean seriously, who needs to have courts if you can just keep retrying defendants over again whether they be found not guilty or guilty. Remember, Double Jeopardy protects against being tried twice for the same offense. It isn't just for those who have been acquitted, but for those convicted or those pardoned. An example of pardon would be the Scooter Libby trial when President Bush pardoned him for his crimes. He cannot be retried because of that. Furthermore, let's say you were driving drunk and were arrested and convicted. It was your third offense, but the judge only gave you one month in jail when the prosecution thought you should have received a year. Do you think that you should be retried for that offense after being released from jail? I would be upset if I were.

Answer 2

Double Jeopardy is a protection from being tried over and over again for the same crime. Without Double Jeopardy protection once a not guilty verdict was reached they could just try the case a second time hoping you were found guilty

Answer 3

If a person has a trial and they are not found guilty a trial would lose all meaning if they could just continue to try them until they were found guilty. The Double Jeopardy Law prevents the second trial from being legal.

Answer 4

So that committing the same crime twice does not go against the accused

Answer 5

It protects the accused from being arrested and tried over and over again on the same identical offense.