sentencing-relief
29 cases — ← All topics
| Case | Title | Lower Court | Docketed | Status | Flags | Tags | Question Presented |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25-6641 | Ervin Thornton, II v. United States | Sixth Circuit | 2026-01-21 | Pending | Response WaivedIFP | apprendi-rule circuit-split drug-offense first-step-act sentencing-relief statutory-interpretation | Section 404 of the First Step Act opened a pathway to sentencing relief for people convicted of crack cocaine offenses prior to August 3, 2010. The ac… |
| 25-665 | Colin R. Covitz v. United States | Armed Forces | 2025-12-08 | Denied | Response Waived | appellate-procedure due-process military-justice post-trial-delay sentencing-relief uniform-code-military-justice | Did the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals err when it held there was "no basis for relief" under 10 U.S.C. § 866(d)(2) merely because there was not … |
| 25A323 | Colin R. Covitz v. United States | Armed Forces | 2025-09-19 | Presumed Complete | court-martial due-process military-justice post-trial-delay sentencing-relief uniform-code-military-justice | Whether a military appellate court's denial of post-trial sentencing relief for excessive delay violates a service member's due process rights under t… | |
| 24-6803 | Vincent Giattino v. United States | Second Circuit | 2025-03-19 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | cruel-unusual-punishment due-process plea-deal sentencing-relief sixth-amendment trial-penalty | Whether the lower courts erred in not finding an 'extraordinary reason' for sentencing relief under 18 U.S.C. Section 3582 based on an alleged unconst… |
| 24-6409 | Eric Jamar Goodall v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2025-01-28 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | circuit-split compassionate-release extraordinary-reasons judicial-discretion medical-conditions sentencing-relief | Did the lower courts err in not requiring or at minimum presuming consideration of 'extraordinary and compelling reasons' prior to denying Eric Jamar … |
| 24-5022 | Angela J. Wells v. Illinois | Illinois | 2024-07-09 | Denied | IFP | criminal-procedure domestic-violence due-process plea-agreement plea-bargain post-conviction-relief sentencing sentencing-relief statutory-interpretation victim-rights | Should a domestic violence victim be eligible for relief under 735 ILCS 5/2-1401 even if she agrees to a plea bargain? |
| 23-7357 | Jesus Robledo Aguilar v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2024-05-01 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | circuit-split constructive-possession criminal-law criminal-procedure drug-offense drugs firearms safety-valve sentencing sentencing-relief statutory-interpretation | Does simultaneous constructive possession of drugs and firearms disqualify a defendant for safety-valve-relief |
| 23A826 | Adam Carson v. United States | Eighth Circuit | 2024-03-08 | Presumed Complete | administrative-exhaustion federal-prisoner first-step-act judicial-review sentence-calculation sentencing-relief | Whether a federal prisoner's challenge to his sentence calculation under the First Step Act constitutes a cognizable claim for judicial relief after a… | |
| 23-6382 | Francisco Batista-Reyes v. United States | First Circuit | 2023-12-28 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | circuit-split criminal-law due-process equal-protection first-time-offenders mdlea-offenses safety-valve sentencing sentencing-relief statutory-interpretation | Do the MDLEA first time offenders charged for the violation of both the MDLEA as well as §§ 960 (b) and 963 statutes have a right to safety valve reli… |
| 23-6012 | Rafael Espinal-Mieses v. United States | First Circuit | 2023-11-15 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 18-usc-3553(f) 21-usc-960(b) criminal-sentencing federal-statute maritime-drug-law maritime-drug-law-enforcement-act retroactivity safety-valve sentencing-relief statutory-interpretation | Did the First Circuit correctly interpret the pre-amendment version of 18 U.S.C. § 3553(f) as excluding MDLEA offenses from safety-valve relief? |
| 23-46 | United States v. Cassity Danielle Jones | Fourth Circuit | 2023-07-17 | GVR | Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (3) | criminal-history criminal-procedure due-process federal-sentencing federal-sentencing-guidelines safety-valve sentencing sentencing-relief statutory-interpretation | Whether a defendant must meet certain criminal history criteria to qualify for 'safety-valve' sentencing relief under 18 U.S.C. 3553(f)(1) |
| 22-7709 | Ashley Latreece Thackerson v. United States | Fifth Circuit | 2023-06-05 | Denied | Relisted (2)IFP | circuit-split criminal-history first-step-act safety-valve sentencing sentencing-relief statutory-interpretation | Did the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals err by finding that Petitioner did not qualify for safety valve relief under the First Step Act 18 U.S.C. § 355… |
| 22-7605 | Sealed Appellant v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2023-05-22 | Denied | Response WaivedRelisted (2)IFP | bad-faith cooperation cooperation-agreement criminal-procedure due-process government-misconduct guilty-plea plea-bargaining prosecutorial-discretion section-3553e sentencing sentencing-relief | Did the government act in bad faith by denying 18-U.S.C.-3553(e) relief to Petitioner |
| 22-7533 | Terence Crawley v. United States | Sixth Circuit | 2023-05-11 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 18-usc-3582 civil-rights compassionate-release criminal-procedure discretionary-relief district-court-discretion due-process first-step-act non-frivolous-arguments sentencing sentencing-relief supreme-court-ruling | Whether the district court is obligated to consider a defendant's non-frivolous arguments when exercising its discretion to grant or deny relief under… |
| 22-851 | United States v. Julian Garcon | Eleventh Circuit | 2023-03-08 | Dismissed | Response RequestedRelisted (2) | criminal-history criminal-history-points criminal-procedure due-process federal-sentencing federal-sentencing-guidelines jurisdiction safety-valve sentencing sentencing-relief statutory-interpretation | Whether the defendant satisfies the prerequisites for 'safety-valve' sentencing relief under 18 U.S.C. 3553(f)(1) |
| 22-398 | Marcos F. Santiago v. J. C. Streeval | Seventh Circuit | 2022-10-28 | Denied | Relisted (2) | criminal-law criminal-procedure due-process felon-status knowledge-requirement post-conviction-relief postconviction-relief rehaif-standard rehaif-v-united-states sentencing-relief | Whether a felon who has spent less than a year in custody is entitled to a presumption that he lacked knowledge of his felon status and therefore, abs… |
| 22-5192 | Jose Manuel Hernandez-Miranda v. United States | Eleventh Circuit | 2022-08-01 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | compassionate-release court-review covid-19 criminal-justice due-process eighth-amendment extraordinary-reasons judicial-discretion petitioner-rights sentencing sentencing-relief | Whether the Petitioner should receive compassionate release based on the stated extraordinary and compelling reasons |
| 21-8146 | Gregory Thomas v. United States | Second Circuit | 2022-06-15 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | abuse-of-discretion criminal-procedure due-process first-step-act judicial-procedure legal-standard sentencing sentencing-relief statutory-interpretation | Whether the lower court abused its discretion by failing to follow the law and determine a defendant's eligibility for First Step Act relief, in viola… |
| 21-5584 | Guerly Alexis v. United States | Eleventh Circuit | 2021-09-07 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | circuit-split criminal-procedure criminal-sentencing eleventh-circuit equal-protection fair-sentencing-act first-step-act sentencing-relief statutory-interpretation | Whether a defendant whose offense preceded the enactment of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, and who was sentenced after its enactment, but not necess… |
| 20-1586 | Artavis Desmond McGowan v. United States | Eleventh Circuit | 2021-05-14 | Denied | Response Waived | conspiracy constructive-amendment criminal-procedure drug-conviction evidence first-step-act mandatory-minimum sentencing sentencing-relief wiretap wiretap-evidence | Whether the district court erred in denying the defendant's motion for a new trial based on a constructive amendment of the indictment |
| 20-5787 | Thomas Wayne Godard v. United States | Fourth Circuit | 2020-09-24 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 924(c) 924(c)-conviction due-process equal-protection first-step-act retroactive-application retroactivity sentencing sentencing-relief | Whether the Circuit Court Erred Failing to Apply First Step Act retroactively to multiple 924(c) convictions that were announced, but not final, at th… |
| 20-5030 | Jimmy Lee Franklin v. United States | Eleventh Circuit | 2020-07-10 | Denied | Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2)IFP | 28-usc-2255 acca-provision acca-sentence burden-of-proof constitutional-challenge criminal-defendant federal-statutory-enhancement-provision retroactive-constitutional-decision section-2255 sentencing-relief statutory-enhancement | Whether a criminal defendant moving for relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 can satisfy his burden of proof by showing that his sentence may have been based… |
| 19-1174 | John W. Kimbrough v. Ron Neal, Superintendent, Indiana State Prison | Seventh Circuit | 2020-03-26 | Denied | Response Waived | appellate-review federal-law habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel sentencing sentencing-relief strickland-standard strickland-v-washington | Is it an unreasonable application of federal law to hold, for Strickland purposes, that there was no reasonable probability that the state's appellate… |
| 19-401 | Lamont Dejuan Higgs v. Warden Wilson | Fifth Circuit | 2019-09-25 | Denied | 28-usc-2241 28-usc-2255 appeal appellate-review federal-procedure habeas-corpus saving-clause sentencing sentencing-relief statutory-interpretation | Whether the saving clause of 28 U.S.C. § 2255(e) allows defendants to seek relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 on the grounds that a subsequent statutory in… | |
| 18-9734 | Hector Dominguez-Gabriel, aka Kinko, aka John Richard Bellefleur v. United States | Second Circuit | 2019-06-19 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | abuse-of-discretion compassionate-release criminal-procedure criminal-sentencing federal-courts federal-sentencing judicial-discretion sentence-modification sentencing-guidelines sentencing-relief statutory-interpretation | Whether the lower court(s) abused its discretion when it denied appellant Section 3582(c)(2) relief? |
| 18-8234 | Jeremy Snider v. United States | Sixth Circuit | 2019-03-05 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 28-usc-2255 advisory-guidelines advisory-sentencing-guidelines circuit-court-decision circuit-split cognizable-claims criminal-procedure-28-usc-2255 federal-law federal-statute non-constitutional-claims post-conviction-relief sentencing-guidelines sentencing-relief statutory-interpretation | Whether non-constitutional claims for sentencing relief grounded on the advisory Sentencing Guidelines can ever be cognizable under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 |
| 18-8051 | Yeison Valencia Torres v. United States | Eleventh Circuit | 2019-02-21 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | circuit-split conflict-of-laws criminal-procedure drug-enforcement drug-offense due-process equal-protection maritime-drug-law maritime-law safety-valve sentencing sentencing-relief statutory-interpretation | Whether the exclusion of the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act (46 U.S.C. § 70503) from eligibility for safety valve violates equal protection |
| 18-6895 | Michael Clark v. United States | Seventh Circuit | 2018-12-03 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | bureau-of-prisons circuit-court classification criminal-history habeas-corpus judicial-review relief revocation sentencing sentencing-guidelines sentencing-relief seventh-circuit | Whether being placed in too high a criminal history category is a cognizable harm for which a defendant can obtain relief |
| 18-5221 | Aquilino Guizamano-Cortes v. United States | Eleventh Circuit | 2018-07-12 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | criminal-law drug-offense due-process equal-protection maritime-drug-law maritime-drug-law-enforcement-act maritime-law rational-basis safety-valve sentencing sentencing-relief statutory-interpretation territorial-jurisdiction | Whether the exclusion of the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act (46 U.S.C. § 70503) from eligibility for safety valve relief violates equal protection,… |