Why Is the Federal Government Charging Luigi Mangione?

The shocking murder at Midtown could be an occasion to revisit the shocking penchant for double jeopardy.

Courtesy of the Altoona Police Department
Luigi Mangione's booking photo, released December 9, 2024, by the Altoona Police Department. Courtesy of the Altoona Police Department

Luigi Mangione’s plea of “not guilty” in state court in New York on Monday is a moment to mark that he faces not just 11 criminal charges in the Empire State, but also four federal charges. One of the latter, murder through use of a firearm, carries a potential punishment of death. The others are two stalking offenses and one violation of gun regulations. We carry no brief whatsoever for Mr. Mangione, but wonder at the overlap. 

Mr. Mangione allegedly gunned down — with bullets to the back, hushed by a silencer — the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare, Brian Thompson, on December 4. The prosecution of crime, called the “police power,” is generally a state matter. The majority of criminal code is written by state lawmakers. New York has charged Mr. Mangione with murder in the first degree and two counts of murder in the second degree, along with other crimes.

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