Eastern Louisiana vs. Western Texas

What This Eastern Louisiana vs. Western Texas Comparison Reveals

In FY2024, the Eastern Louisiana District (5th Circuit) handled 342 federal sentencings with an average imposed term of 78.8 months, while the Western Texas District (5th Circuit) handled 6,122 cases at an average of 28.3 months. That is a 50.5-month gap — the Eastern District sentences longer on average. Case volume alone tells part of the story: Western processed roughly 17.9× more defendants than Eastern, which affects guideline compliance patterns and the mix of offenses each court sees.

Guideline compliance diverges as well. In Eastern Louisiana, 6% of cases were sentenced within the guideline range, 8% above, and N/A% below, with Booker variances in N/A% of dispositions. In Western Texas, the corresponding figures were 36% within, 2% above, N/A% below, and N/A% Booker variances. Guilty-plea rates ran at 50% vs. 51%, and prison-sentence rates at 83% vs. 94% respectively — metrics that capture both charging practice and judicial discretion across the two courts.

Set against the nationwide benchmark for the same offense mix, Eastern Louisiana ran a disparity of +5.4% and Western Texas ran -18.5%. That comparison adjusts for the offense mix each district actually handles, so it isolates court-level patterns from pure caseload composition. Readers should still treat these as aggregate descriptive statistics — individual cases turn on criminal history, specific guideline adjustments, cooperation agreements, and statutory mandatory minimums that the district averages cannot resolve. This data is presented for research and educational purposes only and is not legal advice.