United States v. Tickle, No. 10-30852 (5th Cir. 2012)

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals considered these cases jointly because they raised a single issue: whether Defendants, who were convicted of possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine, among other things, were entitled to be sentenced according to the Fair Sentencing Act (FSA) when their illegal conduct preceded the FSA but their sentencing proceedings occurred post-enactment. The Fifth Circuit held that the penalties described by the FSA did not apply to federal criminal sentencing for illegal conduct that preceded the FSA's enactment, and therefore, the sentences imposed by the district courts in these cases were affirmed. However, after the Fifth Circuit issued its opinion in these consolidated cases, the Supreme Court decided Dorsey v. United States, which held, contrary to the Fifth Circuit's opinion, that the more lenient penalties of the FSA apply to offenders who committed an offense before the Act was passed but were sentenced after the Act was enacted. The Fifth Circuit, therefore, vacated and remanded these cases for resentencing consistent with the Court's holding in Dorsey.