sentencing-disparity

49 cases — ← All topics

Case Title Lower Court Docketed Status Flags Tags Question Presented
25-5853 Clarence Santiago v. United States Fifth Circuit 2025-10-09 Denied Response WaivedIFP circuit-split criminal-conduct federal-procedure sentencing-disparity sentencing-guidelines statutory-interpretation In assessing whether two defendants are similarly situated for purposes of § 3553(a)(6), are courts required to consider their actual offense conduct?
25-5776 Thomas Scott Perkins v. United States Fifth Circuit 2025-10-01 Pending Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2)IFP comparative-analysis federal-sentencing judicial-discretion sentencing-commission sentencing-disparity statutory-interpretation Whether the detailed Judiciary Sentencing Information (JSIN) statistics compiled by the United States Sentencing Commission are relevant to considerin…
25-5205 Jesus Garcia, Jr. v. United States Fifth Circuit 2025-07-28 Denied Response WaivedIFP criminal-sentencing federal-sentencing-guidelines judicial-statistics sentencing-commission sentencing-disparity statutory-interpretation Whether the detailed Judiciary Sentencing Information (JSIN) statistics compiled by the United States Sentencing Commission are relevant to considerin…
25-5105 Anthony Michael Laporte v. United States Fourth Circuit 2025-07-15 Denied Response WaivedIFP bureau-of-prisons extraordinary-compelling-reason mental-health-treatment rehabilitation sentence-reduction sentencing-disparity 1. Can rehabilitation efforts, when combined with other issues, constitute an extraordinary and compelling reason to reduce a sentence? 2. Can the di…
24-6824 Hansel Janel Rijo-Guerrero v. United States First Circuit 2025-03-21 Denied Response WaivedIFP criminal-procedure downward-variance drug-trafficking sentencing-disparity sentencing-enhancement ussg-guidelines Whether the district court erred in imposing a two-level sentencing enhancement and denying a downward variance for a defendant convicted of drug traf…
24-6161 Leonard Hatten, Jr. v. United States Eighth Circuit 2024-12-18 Denied Response WaivedIFP co-defendant-comparison criminal-sentencing federal-sentencing-guidelines judicial-discretion reasonableness-review sentencing-disparity Was the sentence of the Defendant unreasonable due to unwarranted sentencing disparities among co-defendants?
24-5980 Vernell Moore v. United States Sixth Circuit 2024-11-15 Denied Response WaivedIFP district-court-discretion eighth-amendment methamphetamine-enhancement proportionality-of-punishment sentencing-disparity sentencing-guidelines Whether the District Court and Sixth Circuit erred in applying the 10:1 methamphetamine enhancement under U.S.S.G. §2D1.1 given potential constitution…
24-5369 Tommy T. Branch v. United States District of Columbia 2024-08-22 Denied Response WaivedIFP covid-19 imprisonment legislative-response rehabilitation sentencing-disparity term-reduction Question not identified.
24-5054 Amir Aqeel v. United States Fifth Circuit 2024-07-11 Denied Response WaivedIFP bias culpability due-process equal-justice fairness Involuntary-Plea-Agreement mandatory-guidelines nationality nationality-bias plea-agreement religion sentencing sentencing-disparity Violation-of-Policy-5H1.10 Sentencing-Disparity
23-7324 Danilo Velasquez v. United States Ninth Circuit 2024-04-29 Denied Response WaivedRelisted (2)IFP constitutional-rights criminal-sentencing deportation gang jury-trial-rights plea-bargaining rico rico-case section-2255 sentencing-disparity Whether the petitioner's continued life sentence represents an unwarranted sentencing disparity under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(6)
23A687 Danilo Arturo Velasquez v. United States Ninth Circuit 2024-01-24 Presumed Complete criminal-appeal federal-sentencing ninth-circuit rico-conspiracy sentencing-disparity statutory-interpretation Whether a federal court's sentencing decision that creates an alleged sentencing disparity violates the proportionality requirements of 18 U.S.C. § 35…
23-5698 Roy Christopher West v. United States Sixth Circuit 2023-10-02 Denied Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2)IFP circuit-split compassionate-release concepcion-v-united-states district-court-discretion equal-protection extraordinary-and-compelling-reasons first-step-act judicial-discretion sentencing-disparity Whether the Sixth Circuit's threshold for extraordinary and compelling reasons under the First Step Act of 2018 Compassionate Release is erroneous and…
23-5148 Bernard Edmond v. United States Sixth Circuit 2023-07-20 Denied Response WaivedIFP 18-usc-3553 circuit-split compassionate-release criminal-sentencing extraordinary-and-compelling-factors first-step-act resentencing retroactive-application sentencing-disparity Whether sentencing-disparities-can-serve-as-basis-for-compassionate-release
22-6929 Forrest Thomas III v. Brandon M. Smith, Warden Fifth Circuit 2023-03-03 Denied IFP civil-rights constitutional-law criminal-procedure due-process equal-protection habeas-corpus plea-bargaining sentencing sentencing-disparity sex-offender-registration Whether the sex offender classification policies as applied to Petitioner, convicted of a non-sexual offense, violate substantive due process
22-6006 Justin Richard Testani v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2022-11-07 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography criminal-history cruel-and-unusual-punishment eighth-amendment mental-capacity sentencing sentencing-disparity Whether a 720-month sentence violates the Eighth Amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual sentences
22-5097 Hidey Diaz, aka Silvio Manuel Amador, aka Celio Alvarez-Carrasco v. United States Tenth Circuit 2022-07-13 Denied Response WaivedIFP 10th-circuit circuit-court-review criminal-sentencing federal-prosecution government-action guideline-range sentencing-disparity sentencing-guidelines statutory-directive substantive-reasonableness unwarranted-disparity Did the Tenth Circuit err in concluding that it was barred from considering, on review for the substantive reasonableness of Mr. Diaz's sentence, the …
22-5090 Michelle C. Cantatore v. United States Third Circuit 2022-07-13 Denied Response WaivedIFP certificate-of-appealability criminal-history district-court-discretion evidentiary-hearing habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance-of-counsel section-2255 sentencing sentencing-counsel sentencing-disparity Whether the Third Circuit's denial of a certificate of appealability
21-8118 Myron Dejuan Orr v. United States Eighth Circuit 2022-06-10 Denied Response WaivedIFP 18-U.S.C.-3553(a) 18-U.S.C.-3582(c) 18-usc-3553a 18-usc-3582c abuse-of-discretion circuit-split extraordinary-and-or-compelling-reasons first-step-act sentencing-disparity Whether the lower courts' rulings amount to an abuse of discretion when failing to consider that a disparity in sentencing amounts to an abuse of disc…
21-7391 Isaiah Ramon Henderson v. United States Eighth Circuit 2022-03-16 Denied Amici (1)Response WaivedIFP circuit-split controlled-substances controlled-substances-act criminal-procedure federal-law federal-sentencing-guidelines sentencing-disparity sentencing-guidelines statutory-interpretation Whether 'controlled substance[s]' in the Federal Sentencing Guidelines § 4B1.2(b) are limited to those substances defined and regulated under the fede…
21-6930 Juan Rivera-George, aka Tio v. United States First Circuit 2022-01-20 Denied Response WaivedIFP confrontation cross-examination-limitation fair-trial hearsay-admission impartial-jury impeachment-evidence jury-bias jury-impartiality sentencing sentencing-disparity sixth-amendment sixth-amendment-right Whether Juan Rivera-George was deprived of his Sixth Amendment right to a fair trial by an impartial jury
21-6687 Rory Lee Zirkelbach v. United States Eighth Circuit 2021-12-21 Denied Response WaivedIFP 18-usc-3582 career-offender district-court-discretion extraordinary-and-compelling extraordinary-reasons sentence-reduction sentencing-disparity sentencing-error sentencing-guideline statutory-interpretation Whether a sentencing error and resulting disparity can constitute an 'extraordinary and compelling reason' for a sentence reduction under 18 U.S.C. § …
21-6014 Yina Maria Castaneda Benavidez, aka La Reina, aka Ingeniera v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2021-10-19 Denied Response WaivedIFP appeal conspiracy constitutional-rights criminal-law criminal-procedure drug-trafficking due-process evidence evidence-standard knowledge-element sentencing sentencing-disparity Did the Eleventh Circuit reversibly err in affirming a conviction for which the Government failed to prove the essential element of knowledge or reaso…
20-8398 Jonathan Jerome Hills v. United States Ninth Circuit 2021-06-24 Denied Response WaivedIFP 18-usc-3553 criminal-justice criminal-sentencing due-process equal-protection first-step-act judicial-discretion procedural-opportunity sentencing sentencing-disparity statutory-interpretation Whether differences in procedural opportunity arising from the fact that a defendant is statutorily eligible for relief under the First Step Act creat…
20-8284 Harold Gashe v. United States Eighth Circuit 2021-06-14 Denied Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2)IFP appellate-court-split appellate-review criminal-justice due-process equal-protection extraordinary-reasons judicial-discretion section-3582 sentencing sentencing-disparity statutory-interpretation Is the application of 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A)(i) for relief from 924(c) stacking sentences being applied inconsistently across appellate courts?
20-7973 Zavion Nunley v. United States Fifth Circuit 2021-05-11 Denied Response WaivedIFP appellate-review circuit-split data-availability judicial-discretion nationwide-statistics reasonableness-of-sentence sentencing-disparities sentencing-disparity sentencing-guidelines statistical-analysis unwarranted-disparities Whether statistics demonstrating that judges in the sentencing district impose sentences much more frequently than their peers in other district are r…
20-7246 Renaldo Demarquis Metcalf v. United States Fourth Circuit 2021-02-25 Denied Response WaivedIFP career-offender criminal-history judicial-doctrine legal-departure sentencing-disparity sentencing-guidelines sentencing-process Does the use of the 'de facto career offender' doctrine distort the sentencing process and lead to unwarranted sentencing disparity?
20-6087 Tana Chris Lawrence v. United States Ninth Circuit 2020-10-20 Denied Response WaivedIFP certificate-of-appealability habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel judicial-review plea-agreement sentencing sentencing-disparity standard-of-review Whether the Ninth Circuit's methodology for denying a COA is out of step with Supreme Court directive
20-6067 Angeledith Saramaylene Smith v. United States Ninth Circuit 2020-10-20 Denied Response WaivedIFP certificate-of-appealability evidentiary-hearing habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel ninth-circuit plea-agreement sentencing sentencing-disparity Whether the Ninth Circuit's methodology for denying a COA is out of step with Supreme Court directive
20-6057 David Lee Emmert, Jr. v. United States Eighth Circuit 2020-10-16 Denied Response WaivedIFP child-pornography criminal-defendants criminal-enhancement due-process equal-protection immigration liberty-interest sentencing-disparity sexual-abuse-minor statutory-interpretation Whether equal protection of the liberty interest is offended when two classes of criminal defendants (Immigration and Child Pornography) are given dis…
19-8849 Linda Pedroza v. Florida Florida 2020-07-02 Denied Response WaivedIFP constitutional-rights cruel-and-unusual-punishment eighth-amendment juvenile-offender juvenile-sentencing parole proportionality second-degree-homicide sentencing sentencing-disparity Where a juvenile offender is sentenced to a term of 40 years in prison for a second degree homicide, and that sentence places her in a worse position …
19-8680 Adrian Zitalpopoca-Hernandez v. United States Ninth Circuit 2020-06-11 Denied Response WaivedIFP 18-usc-3553 circuit-split comparative-sentencing criminal-sentencing federal-sentencing federal-sentencing-guidelines judicial-discretion sentencing-disparities sentencing-disparity statutory-interpretation Whether 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(6) requires federal judges to compare a defendant's sentence to the sentences of his codefendants, the sentences of defend…
19-8515 Michael Munday v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2020-05-21 Denied Response WaivedIFP disparate-sentencing double-jeopardy due-process fairness fifth-amendment judicial-review reasonableness sentencing sentencing-disparity sixth-amendment Whether the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals erred in affirming a 12-year upward departure sentence that violates due-process, double-jeopardy, reaso…
19-7827 Terry O'Nell Hall v. Texas Texas 2020-03-02 Denied IFP co-defendant confrontation-clause criminal-trial cruel-and-unusual-punishment due-process evidentiary-inconsistency fundamental-fairness inconsistent-testimony right-to-fair-trial sentencing-disparity victim-testimony witness-testimony Did the court of appeals err in deciding petitioner's right to due process was not violated, where the victim testified one way during his trial and t…
19-7626 Lonnie Rarden v. Ohio Ohio 2020-02-12 Dismissed IFP cruel-and-unusual-punishment disproportionate-sentences due-process eighth-amendment non-violent-offense non-violent-offenses proportionality-review sentencing sentencing-disparity Is sentencing a defendant to a de facto life sentence for non-violent offenses a violation of the Eighth Amendment right against cruel and unusual pun…
19-6746 Michael Anthony Mitchell v. United States Fourth Circuit 2019-11-25 Denied Response WaivedIFP appellate-review due-process equal-protection fair-hearing ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel sentencing sentencing-disparities sentencing-disparity sentencing-review unwarranted-sentence waiver-of-rights Does a waiver of direct appeal rights and collateral rights excepting claims premised on ineffective assistance of counsel violate a defendant's due-p…
19-6513 Deyoe R. Harris v. United States Ninth Circuit 2019-11-07 Denied Response WaivedIFP 2nd-amendment civil-rights constitutional-law constitutional-review controlled-substances criminal-justice drug-policy due-process federal-law federalism free-speech sentencing-disparity standing takings Whether the federal prohibition on certain substances has resulted in more crime and violence, and whether it is best to regulate or decriminalize the…
19-6255 Kunta Kenta Redd v. United States Fourth Circuit 2019-10-11 Denied Response WaivedIFP crack-cocaine crack-cocaine-sentencing criminal-justice-reform due-process first-step-act retroactivity section-404 sentencing-disparity sentencing-guidelines sentencing-reform sixth-amendment statutory-interpretation Whether the petitioner is entitled to relief from denial of a 404 motion at the district court level in light of the First Step Act
19-6067 Francisco Suarez v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2019-09-25 Denied Response WaivedIFP appellate-review circuit-conflict codefendant-comparison criminal-procedure-error eighth-circuit intra-circuit-conflict legal-standard public-safety sentencing-disparity sentencing-guidelines united-states-v-darden united-states-v-smith Whether the circuit and district court committed constitutional procedural error by failing to weigh the mandated public safety concern, violating the…
19-5528 Robert Anthony Chester v. West Virginia West Virginia 2019-08-08 Denied Response WaivedIFP co-defendant co-defendants constitutional-proportionality criminal-sentencing cruel-and-unusual-punishment disparate-sentencing disproportionate-sentencing eighth-amendment equal-protection first-degree-robbery sentencing sentencing-disparity Was Petitioner's One Hundred Eighty Year Sentence For His Conviction Of Two Counts Of First Degree Robbery Disparate To The Twenty Year Sentence Impos…
18-9049 Jackie Madore v. United States First Circuit 2019-04-30 Denied Response WaivedIFP appellate-procedure appellate-waivers contract-law criminal-law criminal-procedure due-process plea-agreement plea-bargaining sentencing sentencing-disparity Whether the Supreme Court should review appellate waivers in criminal cases under principles of contract law
18-7569 Paul William Scott v. Julie L. Jones, Secretary, Florida Department of Corrections Florida 2019-01-25 Denied IFP codefendant-comparison constitutional-proportionality cruel-and-unusual-punishment death-penalty due-process eighth-amendment equal-protection sentencing-disparity Whether Florida's refusal to consider the disparity between the 15-year prison term of his equal or more culpable codefendant and Scott's death senten…
18-7568 Richard Earl Shere, Jr. v. Florida Florida 2019-01-25 Denied IFP co-defendant constitutional-review death-penalty equal-protection equal-protection,death-penalty,sentencing,retroact hurst-v-florida mccloud-v-state retroactivity ring-v-arizona sentencing-disparity Whether Mr. Shere's case is no longer one of the most aggravated and least mitigated following Hurst v. Florida and McCloud v. State
18-6498 Gildardo Majalca-Aguilar v. United States Tenth Circuit 2018-10-30 Denied Response WaivedIFP 18-usc-3582 amendment-782 criminal-procedure criminal-sentencing district-court-discretion drug-conspiracy drug-quantity due-process equal-protection sentence-reduction sentencing-disparity sentencing-guidelines Whether the district court erred in denying the motion for sentence reduction under Amendment 782 §3582(c)(2) despite the minimal quantities of drugs …
18-6391 Matthew Vaughn Hawks v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2018-10-19 Denied Response WaivedIFP appeals criminal-procedure due-process eleventh-circuit federal-rules-of-criminal-procedure mental-disability plain-error sentencing sentencing-disparity sentencing-reasonableness substantial-rights united-states-v-olano whether-the-eleventh-circuit-misapplied-fed-r-crim-p-52(b)-and-united-states-v-olano
18-6208 Nicholas Ryan Hemsher v. United States Eighth Circuit 2018-10-03 Denied Response WaivedIFP 18-usc-3553 8th-circuit appellate-review circuit-split co-conspirators criminal-enhancement criminal-procedure sentencing-disparities sentencing-disparities-18-usc-3553-a-6 sentencing-disparity sentencing-guidelines statutory-interpretation Whether the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals erred in finding that the statutory direction to avoid unwarranted disparities among defendants does not a…
18-5606 Hagop Demirjian v. United States Seventh Circuit 2018-08-15 Denied Response WaivedIFP 18-usc-3582 amendment-782 circuit-split civil-procedure criminal-procedure due-process equal-protection judicial-discretion section-3582 sentence-disparity sentencing sentencing-disparity statutory-interpretation Whether there is a statutory preclusion for successive §3582 motions
18-5408 Norberto Serna v. California California 2018-07-31 Denied Response WaivedIFP bodily-harm criminal-law cruel-and-unusual-punishment due-process eighth-amendment equal-protection extortion kidnapping sentencing sentencing-disparity Whether California violates the Equal Protection Clause and Eighth Amendment by imposing a harsher maximum sentence on kidnapper-extortionists than on…
18-5273 Davian Wilson v. United States Fifth Circuit 2018-07-18 Denied Response WaivedIFP authentication criminal-procedure criminal-procedure-sufficiency-of-evidence criminal-trial evidence-authentication federal-criminal-procedure federal-jurisdiction guilty-verdict jury-verdict native-american reasonable-jury sentencing-disparities sentencing-disparity standard-of-review sufficiency-of-evidence Whether the district court erred in finding sufficient evidence for a guilty verdict against Mr. Wilson
18-5129 Rodolfo Trejo v. United States Sixth Circuit 2018-07-06 Denied Response WaivedIFP appellate-review criminal-procedure criminal-sentencing double-counting due-process eighth-amendment equal-protection immigration sentencing sentencing-disparity sentencing-guidelines statutory-interpretation substantive-reasonableness Whether Petitioner's Sentence Constitutes Impermissible Double Counting