Custer v. McCutcheon

Background

A federal marshal levied an execution on October 9, 1929 to enforce a judgment entered in 1921 in favor of the United States. The person subject to the levy filed a bill the next day asking the federal court to stop the marshal, arguing that an Idaho law (§ 6910) allows a writ of execution only within five years after a judgment is entered. The district court dismissed the bill and the court of appeals affirmed, and the case reached this Court for review. The Idaho rule had been adopted as part of federal procedure in that district by R. S. § 916 and the court’s Standing Rule 73.

Reasoning

The Court addressed whether the Idaho five-year rule applies when the United States seeks execution. It explained that the federal statute and the district court rule adopt state forms and remedies for executions, and past decisions required federal courts to follow similar state provisions. The Court said the five-year limit is a procedural time for using the state form of execution, not an immunity that leaves the United States free of state execution rules. Finding no Idaho decision or congressional provision exempting the sovereign, the Court concluded the state deadline binds the United States and reversed the lower courts’ rulings.

Real world impact

The ruling requires the federal government to follow state time limits and procedures for executions adopted by a federal court. Federal marshals must conform to the state-adopted execution rules, and the government cannot rely on executions after the state’s deadline unless Congress or state law expressly provides otherwise. The judgment reverses the lower courts’ rulings and enforces uniform treatment of plaintiffs using state-style executions.