Whether a district court may, consistent with 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a), treat the duration of a prior term of imprisonment as a floor or baseline on its sentencing authority

QUESTION PRESENTED L 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(1) requires district courts to “impose a sentence sufficient, but not greater than necessary, to comply with the purposes set forth in” § 3553(a)(2). Those purposes include retribution, general deterrence, incapacitation, and rehabilitation, but Congress treated all four goals equally and requires consideration of each one. 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(2)(A)(D). “[I]n determining the particular sentence to be imposed,” § 3553(a) likewise requires district courts to “consider” a series of additional factors, which include “the nature and circumstances of the offense,” “the history and characteristics of the defendant,” and “the kinds of sentence and the sentencing range established for . . . the applicable category of offense committed by the applicable category of defendant as set forth in the guidelines .. . issued by the Sentencing Commission.” 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(1), (4). The question presented is: In light of its nuanced, holistic approach to federal sentencing, whether a district court may, consistent with § 3553(a)’s plain text, treat the duration of a prior term of imprisonment as a floor or baseline on its sentencing authority. i