In the case of Price v. Georgia (1969), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a defendant could not be tried twice for the same offense, upholding the principle of double jeopardy. The defendant, Price, was initially charged with murder but was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter by a jury in Georgia and sentenced to 1-20 years in prison. After an appeal on unrelated grounds led to a retrial, he was again convicted of voluntary manslaughter despite his claim that this constituted double jeopardy - being tried twice for the same crime after acquittal or conviction. The Supreme Court overturned his second conviction stating it violated his Fifth Amendment rights against double jeopardy as he had already been implicitly acquitted of murder in his first trial when he was instead convicted on lesser charges.

In the dissenting opinion for Price v. Georgia, Justice Harlan argued that the majority's decision was a departure from established legal principles and precedent regarding double jeopardy. He contended that there was no constitutional violation in retrying Price on a murder charge after his initial conviction of voluntary manslaughter had been overturned on appeal. According to him, this did not amount to double jeopardy because it wasn't an attempt by the state to secure another trial after failing in its first prosecution but rather a response to an appellate court's determination that errors were committed during the original proceedings which necessitated retrial. Furthermore, he pointed out that at both trials, Price faced only one potential punishment for each offense charged against him; hence there was no risk of multiple punishments for the same crime -a key concern underpinning double jeopardy protections.