Blockburger v. United States

Background

The case involves a seller charged under the Harrison Narcotic Act for selling morphine hydrochloride. The indictment had five counts; the jury convicted the seller on the second, third, and fifth counts. The second count alleged a sale of ten grains not in the original stamped package on one day, the third alleged a sale of eight grains the next day also not in the original stamped package, and the fifth alleged that the latter sale was not made pursuant to a written order. The trial court sentenced the seller to five years and a $2,000 fine on each count, with prison terms to run consecutively, and the conviction was affirmed on appeal.

Reasoning

The Court addressed two questions: whether two closely timed sales to the same buyer were a single offense, and whether one sale that violated both the stamped-package rule and the written-order rule amounted to one offense or two. The Court held that each sale completed at a different time is a distinct offense, even when made to the same purchaser. The Court also held that the two statutory sections create separate offenses because each requires proof of a fact the other does not, so a single sale that breaks both rules can support two punishments. The Court disapproved contrary lower-court authority and affirmed the judgment, noting that questions about severity of cumulative punishment were matters for the trial court or Congress.

Real world impact

The ruling allows prosecutors to bring separate charges for successive narcotic sales to the same buyer and to seek separate punishments when a single sale breaches both stamp and written-order requirements. Sellers of controlled drugs face the risk of multiple convictions and stacked penalties for closely timed sales or for a single sale that violates multiple statutory requirements. The Court left sentencing discretion and any change to statutory penalties to the trial courts or to Congress.