Federal Defenders of New York Second Circuit Blog

supervised release

Court upholds third-party risk-notification condition against delegation challenge where the defendant’s criminal record and an on-record colloquy defined the risk she posed and sufficiently guided Probation’s discretion.

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In United States v. Stuart, No. 25-599 (2d Cir. Sept. 3, 2026) (Lohier, Jacobs (writing), Sack), the panel upheld a special condition of supervised release authorizing the Probation Office “to notify third parties, to whom you may present a risk including employers and potential employers, of your criminal history and past criminal conduct.” Slip op. at 12. … Read more

Section 404(b) of the First Step Act reaches back only to the Fair Sentencing Act’s crack-quantity thresholds and does not carry § 401, narrowing the definition of § 841’s triggering predicates, with it.

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United States v. VanHoesen, No. 24-2692 (2d Cir. Aug. 24, 2026) (Cabranes, Livingston (writing), Menashi). The Second Circuit affirmed VanHoesen’s sentence of time served and eight years of supervised release, imposed on a § 404(b) First Step Act resentencing. The sole issue is the term of supervision. Judge Livingston’s opinion affirms the eight-year term because … Read more

“Take any prescribed medications” condition of supervised release is plainly erroneous absent medically grounded, on-the-record findings that compelled medication is necessary.

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United States v. McCrone, No. 22-3178 (L) (2d Cir. July 21, 2026) (Walker, Lee, Robinson) The Second Circuit today struck, on plain-error review, a supervised-release condition requiring the defendant to “continue to take any prescribed medications unless otherwise instructed by the health care provider.” Slip op. at 6. (The condition was a stock sentence embedded … Read more

Circuit Considers, Once Again, an Electronic Search Condition . . .

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This week in United States v. Jimenez, No. 24-1661 (2d Cir. Feb. 25, 2026) (Pérez, J.), the Circuit affirmed a 105-month sentence and three special conditions of supervised release. Although Jimenez (represented by this Office) did not prevail, the opinion contains significant pro-defense language useful for objecting to or challenging electronic search conditions. I. The … Read more

Circuit vacates supervised release revocation sentence.

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In United States v. Jose Ramos, No. 23-6723 (2d Cir. Dec. 3, 2024), the Circuit vacates a significantly above Guidelines sentence imposed for the defendant’s violations of supervised release. There is a lot going on in Ramos, including apparent factual and legal errors related to the defendant’s original underlying sentence. And numerous alleged supervised release … Read more

IAC claim rejected on direct appeal because lack of prejudice to defendant is “beyond doubt” and district court sufficiently explained its sentence given “the lesser specificity required for a [revocation] sentence”

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Not sure why United States v. Antonio Ortiz, 2d Cir. No. 22-1775-cr (April 30, 2024), is a published opinion rather than a summary order. Judge Menashi’s opinion for the panel (Calabresi, Menashi, Perez) rejects Ortiz’s challenge to his five-year sentence, imposed upon revocation of supervised release after the district court found that he raped his … Read more

Circuit holds that federal supervised release only begins when the defendant is released from subsequent state custody, not when he is released from federal custody into state custody.

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In United States v. Freeman, No. 23-6394 (2d Cir. April 23, 2024), the defendant was ordered to begin his supervised release almost ten years after his release from federal prison, when he was finally released from state custody on charges that were dismissed. Freeman argued that his supervised release term began upon his release from … Read more

Special conditions of supervised release must be based on an individualized assessment of the defendant and adequately explained.

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In two recent decisions, the Second Circuit reiterated the requirements for imposing special conditions of supervised release: a sentencing court must undertake an “individualized assessment” of the defendant and “state on the record the reason for imposing” any special condition. The failure to do so is error. In United States v. Alex Oliveras, No. 21-2954, … Read more

Circuit Vacates Two Supervised Release Conditions

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In United States v. Rodriguez, No. 22-1820-cr (2d. Cir. Dec. 7, 2023) (summary order), the Circuit (Kearse, Calabresi, and Nathan) vacated two drug- and alcohol-related special conditions on plain error review. At sentencing, the district court imposed a condition requiring Rodriguez to undergo drug treatment evaluation, and “if deemed necessary,” attend outpatient drug treatment. The … Read more

In a summary order, the Second Circuit vacates a district court’s judgment imposing a complete ban on internet use, as a condition of supervised release. The Circuit concludes that it’s “substantively unreasonable” to impose such a ban on someone whose offense involved child pornography, and no evidence suggested he “is likely to seek out children on social media or prey on them in reality.” United States v. Gonyea, Nos. 22-1722-cr, 22-1727-cr (2d Cir. Nov. 13, 2023) (C.J.J.’s Jacobs, Lohier, Lee) (“Summary Order”).

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I. Background In 2017, Appellant was convicted of one count “of receiving child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2252A(a)(2)(A) and (b)(1)” and sentenced to 72 months’  imprisonment “and a life term of supervised release.” Order at 3. In 2021, after his release from custody, Probation Officers discovered that he had “created two email … Read more