This morning, the Supreme Court decided Beckles v. United States. You can read the opinion here. The Court held unanimously that the Sentencing Guidelines are not subject to void-for-vagueness challenges. We will update with a more detailed analysis soon.
The United States Sentencing Commission has proposed several amendments to the Sentencing Guidelines. Because the Guidelines’ worth stems from their basis in the Commission’s expertise, the reasoning for any changes proposed by the Commission can be useful in persuading a sentencing court to either follow the proposed amendment or decline to follow the current guideline. … Read more
United States v. Melendez, No. 16-1019 (2d Cir. Feb. 16, 2007) (Leval, Calabresi, Carney). In this summary order, the Circuit vacated the denial of a motion for a sentence reduction under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2). The Court ruled that the district court (Judge Hurley) clearly erred in deciding that the defendant (a client of Federal Defenders) … Read more
President Trump’s executive order titled “Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States,” signed on Jan. 25, may have significant impacts on non-citizens with open federal criminal cases in the relatively near term. The order is only two days old and does not explicitly withdraw existing agency guidance on most issues it addresses, … Read more
In United States v. Pinto, the Second Circuit affirmed an order of restitution that was based, in part, on a government memorandum recounting an interview with a co-conspirator. The District Court had refused to order the government to produce the QuickBooks records that were a partial basis for its restitution calculations. The District Court has the discretion to decide … Read more
In United States v. Byrd, the Second Circuit affirmed a sentence despite the District Court finding an applicable guideline range different from the one agreed to by the parties in a written plea agreement. The Circuit held that although “district courts have the discretion to give effect to Guidelines calculations in plea agreements that result … Read more
In United States v. Morgan, the Second Circuit affirmed the conviction despite the defendant’s challenge to the use of Low Copy Number DNA evidence at trial. The Circuit concluded that “although LCN analysis is supported by significantly weaker evidence of reliability than traditional DNA analysis, the district court did not abuse its discretion in this … Read more
Earlier this month, the Department of Justice issued new guidelines for the use of photo array identification procedures. You may find this useful in support your request for an expert in cases in which these procedures were not followed. The ABA Journal has an update on the policy as well as links to the DOJ … Read more
Have you ever wanted to know the average length of sentences for a particular criminal history category for a particular guideline? Do you want to make an argument that cases involving MDMA see a higher rate of below-guideline sentences than other drug cases, either nationally, by circuit or by district? Then this is the website … Read more
In United States v. Jamahl Leonard, No. 15-2232-cr (Dec. 14, 2016) (Circuit Judges: Raggi, Chin, Droney), the Circuit, in a published opinion, vacates a district court’s ruling that the defendant is ineligible for a sentence reduction under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) and remands for further proceedings. But it also holds that the defendant cannot receive … Read more