Hall v. United States

Whether the Fifth Amendment’s Double Jeopardy Clause prohibits the federal sentencing of an individual already sentenced by a state for the same conduct.

Petitioner pleaded guilty to assault by strangulation and possession of a firearm by a felon. The state court consolidated Petitioner's convictions with a conviction for selling and delivering marijuana that occurred two months prior and Petitioner received a sentence for all three felonies. Subsequently, the federal government obtained a Petite waiver to indict Petitioner in federal court for possession of a firearm related to the same transaction for which Petitioner received a sentence in state court. Petite v. United States, 361 U.S. 529 (1960). Petitioner pleaded guilty and the district court sentenced Petitioner without considering the time Petitioner served as a result of his state conviction. The Fourth Circuit affirmed Petitioner’s conviction and sentence. In Petitioner’s brief to the Supreme Court, Petitioner argued that the Court should revisit its decision authorizing the double sentencing of individuals because the decision contravenes the meaning and purpose of the Fifth Amendment’s Double Jeopardy Clause. Specifically, Petitioner cited the English common law adopted by the Framers of the Constitution and early American jurisprudence to argue that the Founders never intended to allow the separate sovereigns exception to sentencing to swallow the Constitution’s prohibition against dual sentencing. In a summary disposition order, the Court granted review and entered a judgment vacating and remanding the case for consideration in light of Rehaif v. United States, 588 U.S. ___ (2019). VACATED and REMANDED.