Gamble Amicus Brief

April 30, 2021

In 2017, the Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court of the United States relating to Gamble v. United States. 

Due to the case’s implications regarding the just and robust enforcement of federal criminal civil rights law, the TMCRC submitted the brief to provide additional historical and legal analysis concerning the case’s potential impact on federal criminal civil rights enforcement were the Court to abolish the dual sovereignty doctrine. 

In particular, the TMCRC provided insight to remind the court that a change in the “separate sovereigns” rule, if not carefully managed, might end up making federal civil-rights statutes difficult, or even impossible, to enforce.  To read more about the TMCRC’s contribution to the case, the brief can be accessed here.