Hudson v. United States, 522 U.S. 93, 8 (1997)

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Cite as: 522 U. S. 93 (1997)

Stevens, J., concurring in judgment

question. In my judgment it is most unwise to use this case as a vehicle for the substitution of a rather open-ended attempt to define the concept of punishment for the portions of the opinion in Halper that trouble the Court. Accordingly, while I have no hesitation about concurring in the Court's judgment, I do not join its opinion.

I

As is evident from the first sentence of the Court's opinion, this is an extremely easy case. It has been settled since the decision in Blockburger v. United States, 284 U. S. 299 (1932), that the Double Jeopardy Clause is not implicated simply because a criminal charge involves "essentially the same conduct" for which a defendant has previously been punished. See, e. g., United States v. Dixon, 509 U. S. 688, 696, 704 (1993); Rutledge v. United States, 517 U. S. 292, 297 (1996). Unless a second proceeding involves the "same offense" as the first, there is no double jeopardy. The two proceedings at issue here involved different offenses that were not even arguably the same under Blockburger.

Under Blockburger's "same-elements" test, two provisions are not the "same offense" if each contains an element not included in the other. Dixon, 509 U. S., at 696. The penalties imposed on the petitioners in 1989 were based on violations of 12 U. S. C. §§ 84(a)(1) and 375b (1982 ed.) and 12 CFR §§ 31.2(b) and 215.4(b) (1986). Each of these provisions required proof that extensions of credit exceeding certain limits were made,1 but did not require proof of an intent to defraud or the making of any false entries in bank records. The 1992 indictment charged violations of 18 U. S. C. §§ 371, 656, and 1005 and alleged a conspiracy to willfully misapply

1 Title 12 U. S. C. § 84(a)(1) prohibits total loans and extensions of credit by a national banking association to any one borrower from exceeding 15 percent of the bank's unimpaired capital and surplus. Title 12 U. S. C. § 375b and 12 CFR §§ 31.2(b) and 215.4(b) (1986) impose similar lending limits on loans to bank officers and other insiders.

107

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