In United States v. Henry, No. 18-15251 (Aug. 7, 2020) (William Pryor, Grant, Antoon), the Court vacated the district court’s refusal to adjust the defendant’s sentence under USSG 5G1.3(b) based on time served on a related state case.
Although there was no dispute that the criteria for an
adjustment under 5G1.3 were satisfied, the district court refused to apply it
because it determined that the Guidelines were advisory. Disagreeing with other circuits, the Eleventh
Circuit reached the contrary conclusion, holding that an adjustment under 5G1.3
is mandatory, notwithstanding Booker.
The Court reasoned that Booker rendered advisory only the
Guideline provisions that relate to the guideline range. But 5G1.3 relates to the imposition of the
sentence and comes in to play only after the guideline range has been
determined. And because its application can
only reduce (not increase) the defendant’s sentence, treating it as mandatory does
not violate the Sixth Amendment.
