In this chapter you read how one act, such as the assault and battery by police upon the suspect Rodney King, could be both a state and a federal crime without violating the prohibition against double jeopardy. You may recall that officers Koon and Powell, although acquitted of a state crime, were subsequently convicted of a federal crime-for the same offensive act. Under what circumstances do you think federal prosecutors should proceed against defendants who have been acquitted in state proceedings? Should federal prosecutors proceed against everyone suspected of committing a federal crime even though they previously were acquitted by a jury in a state trial? In forming your rationale, consider that every time a state police officer violates the constitutional rights of any accused, by false arrest, for example, a federal offense also has occurred (violation of constitutional rights).