Southern Union Co. v. United States
Issues
When the court imposes a criminal fine, do the principles of Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466 (2000) apply, requiring that the jury find all issues of fact necessary to determine the amount of the fine?
In 2004, local youths broke into a Southern Union storage center that was improperly storing mercury; the incident resulted in a spill and cleanup effort. Southern Union was charged with storing hazardous waste without a permit under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. After a jury found Southern Union guilty, the district court judge determined that the violation had continued for 762 days and imposed a fine of $38 million. On appeal, Southern Union argued that the Supreme Court’s decision in Apprendi required that the jury determine the period of the violation, not the judge. Southern Union contends that if the determination of the period of violation is left to the judge, the court could impose a fine in excess of the actual violation, violating Southern Union’s Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights. In contrast, the United States asserts that Apprendi is not applicable because it dealt with deprivations of life and liberty interests, not the criminal fines that are at issue here. The decision in this case has implications for consistent treatment of defendants and the efficiency of courts.
Questions as Framed for the Court by the Parties
Whether the Fifth and Sixth Amendment principles that this Court established in Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466 (2000), and its progeny, apply to the imposition of criminal fines.
Southern Union Company (“Southern Union”), a distributor of natural gas, acquired an old gas manufacturing plant in Rhode Island (“the Tidewater property”) as part of its new operations in Massachusetts and Rhode Island in 2000. See United States v.
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Additional Resources
Robert C. Cook, Bloomberg BNA, U.S. Supreme Court Agrees to Review High Criminal Fine in Mercury-Spill Case(November 29, 2011).
Richard Frank, Legal Planet: Supreme Court Grants Review in Criminal Environmental Enforcement Case (November 28, 2011).
Jeff Lorenzo, Indiana Environmental Law Report: Southern Union v. US: Supreme Court to Review Criminal Fines (December 2, 2011).