Federal Defenders of New York Second Circuit Blog

18th Century norms define 21st Century privacy: Technological advances in surveillance can’t outrun analog-era expectations of privacy

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Chatrie v. United States, No. 25–112 (U.S. June 29, 2026) (Opinion by Kagan, joined by Roberts, Sotomayor, Kavanaugh, and Jackson; Gorsuch concurs in the judgment) Introduction The facts in Chatrie look daunting — a bank robbery solved through a multi-step “geofence” warrant served on Google, full of unfamiliar ideas like anonymized device lists, “Location History,” and … Read more

Hunter v. United States: Supreme Court Adopts a “Miscarriage-of-Justice” Limit on Appellate Waivers

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The Supreme Court ruled in Hunter v. United States, No. 24-1063 (U.S. June 18, 2026), that appellate courts will not enforce an appellate waiver in a plea agreement when enforcing it “would result in a miscarriage of justice — meaning, when it would leave in place the kind of egregious error that would bring the … Read more

Supreme Court significantly narrows venue

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The Supreme Court just decided Abouammo v. United States, No. 25-5146 (U.S. June 11, 2026), which significantly narrows where venue may lie in the Second Circuit. A brief summary of the case is followed by its three key rulings. Section 1519 of Title 18 makes it a crime to “knowingly… falsif[y]… any record, document, or … Read more

What Remains of Compassionate Release After Rutherford and Fernandez?

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Last week the Supreme Court decided two companion cases (Rutherford v. United States and Fernandez v. United States) largely confining 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A), colloquially known as compassionate release, to its historic core as a remedy grounded on a prisoner’s personal circumstances (such as age or infirmity), and not a vehicle for litigating the legality … Read more

How far can harmless-error review go before it swallows the jury-trial guarantee?

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United States v. Parasmo, No. 23-6555 (2d Cir. May 19, 2026) (Sullivan, joined by Kearse, Robinson dissenting) The Second Circuit affirmed Frank Parasmo’s conviction on thirty-two counts of unlawfully distributing controlled substances under 21 U.S.C. § 841, despite acknowledging — as it had to after Ruan v. United States, 597 U.S. 450 (2022) — that … Read more

Sentencing court cannot accept a police report at face value but must assess its specific indicia of reliability; and cannot consider third-party misconduct unrelated to the defendant as “context.”

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United States v. Dralle, No. 24-2424 (2d Cir. May 12, 2026) (Bianco, joined by Robinson; Sullivan dissenting). On plain-error review, the Second Circuit vacated Chase Dralle’s 30-month sentence for receipt of a trafficked firearm and remanded for resentencing. Judge Bianco’s opinion identifies two procedural errors: The sentencing court erred in (1) accepting at face value … Read more

Can a trial court determine on its own what evidence satisfies a jury’s generalized request to view exhibits or testimony “link[ing]” the defendant to an inculpatory alias?

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United States v. Fabian, No. 22-1247-cr (2d Cir. Mar. 25, 2026) (Livingston, Lynch (writing), Menashi, Circuit Judges The Second Circuit affirmed Fabian’s conviction and 15-year sentence for conspiring to distribute crack cocaine. Fabian raised a host of challenges to his conviction and sentence, but the panel placed at “the forefront of this appeal” the district … Read more

Second Circuit reaffirms that confronting defendant with evidence of guilt can “create the kind of atmosphere of significant restraint that triggers Miranda.”

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United States v. Pence, No. 24-1025-cr (2d Cir. Apr. 10, 2026) (Cabranes, Chin (writing), Robinson, Circuit Judges). In a decision the panel described as “a close call,” the Second Circuit affirmed the district court’s denial of Pence’s motion to suppress statements he made to agents before they gave Miranda warnings. In an opinion by Judge … Read more

Circuit affirms supervised-release condition authorizing suspicionless monitoring of defendant’s internet use

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In United States v. Brown, No. 24-1227 (2d Cir. Apr. 21, 2026), the Circuit (by Judge Sullivan, joined by Judges Wesley and Park) affirmed the district court’s imposition of a special condition of supervised release authorizing the probation office to conduct constant, suspicionless monitoring of “all activity” on internet-capable devices used by Brown, including those … Read more