Palko v. Connecticut
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Palko v. Connecticut, was a United States Supreme Court case concerning the incorporation of the Fifth Amendment protection against double jeopardy.
In 1935, Frank Palka (misspelled "Palko" in Court documents), a Connecticut resident, broke into a local music store and stole a radio, proceeded to flee on foot, and when cornered by law enforcement, killed two police officers and made his escape. He was captured a month later.
Frank Palka had been charged with first-degree murder but was instead convicted of the lesser offense of second-degree murder and given a sentence of life imprisonment. Prosecutors appealed per Connecticut law and won a new trial, in which Palka was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. Palka appealed, arguing that the Fifth Amendment protection against double jeopardy applied to state governments through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Applying a subjective case-by-case approach, the Court disagreed and upheld Palka's conviction, arguing that only fundamental rights, those rights that are central to the concept of "ordered liberty", are protected under the Due Process Clause. Speaking for the majority, Justice Cardozo listed freedom of thought and speech as being chief among such rights. The case was decided by an 8-1 vote.
The Court eventually reversed course and incorporated the protection against double jeopardy with its ruling in Benton v. Maryland (1969).
