Setser v. United States
Issues
1. Whether a district court can impose a federal sentence that runs consecutively to a state sentence even before that sentence is imposed.
2. Whether it is reasonable for a federal sentence to run consecutively to one state sentence but concurrently to another when those two state sentences run concurrently to each other.
Petitioner Monroe Setser’s arrest in Lubbock, Texas for drug- and firearms-related crimes resulted in both state and federal criminal charges as well as the revocation of his probation for an unrelated state offense. Setser pleaded guilty in federal court and received a 151-month prison sentence that would run concurrently to the state sentence to be imposed for the same incident but consecutively to the sentence imposed pursuant to his probation revocation. The Fifth Circuit affirmed on appeal. Setser now argues that federal district courts lack the authority to impose federal sentences that run consecutively to anticipated state sentences. He notes that Congress has not demonstrated any intention to the contrary. By invitation of the Supreme Court, attorney Evan Young responds that district courts have broad discretion in determining how federal sentences will be served. Young argues that this determination must remain an exclusively judicial function.
Questions as Framed for the Court by the Parties
1. Does a district court have authority to order a federal sentence to run consecutively to an anticipated, but not-yet-imposed, state sentence?
2. Is it reasonable for a district court to provide inconsistent instructions about how a federal sentence should interact with state sentences?
Setser pleaded guilty in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas to possession with intent to distribute fifty or more grams of methamphetamine and aiding and abetting. See United States v. Setser , 607 F.3d 128, 129 (5th Cir.
The authors would like to thank former Supreme Court Reporter of Decisions Frank Wagner for his assistance in editing this preview.
Additional Resources
Texas Lawyer: Scalia Picks Baker Botts Associate as Amicus to Support 5th Circuit Decision for U.S. Supreme Court Case (June 24, 2011)
Fifth Circuit Blog: Cert Grant: May District Court Order Federal Sentence to Run Consecutively to Anticipated, But Yet-to-Be-Imposed State Sentence? (June 14, 2011)