News
News and articles
Articles on the Guidelines, the § 3553(a) factors, appeals, 2255 motions and the motions that can lower a sentence after it is imposed. Older articles describe the law as it stood when they were written, so check the date and the update notes before you rely on one.
- 2026 Guideline Amendments: Higher Fraud Loss Thresholds and Simpler Multiple-Count Rules
Amendments sent to Congress on April 30, 2026 raise the dollar amounts in the fraud loss table for inflation and rewrite the multiple-count rules.
- Federal Sentencing Guidelines Drop "Departures" Starting November 1, 2025
The 2025 guideline amendments removed departures and moved federal sentencing to a two-step process.
- Commission Declines to Make 2025 Drug "Mitigating Role" Change Retroactive
On August 6, 2025, a motion to make the 2025 mitigating-role-cap amendment retroactive failed 3–2 because four votes are required.
- July 2, 2021: Borden and § 924(c), AEDPA at 25, and Home Confinement in Limbo
In July 2021, Borden looked like a possible path to relief for some § 924(c) sentences, and thousands on CARES Act home confinement were still waiting for an answer.
- June 25, 2021: Compassionate Release at 87, the Savings Clause After Borden, and a Conflicted Lawyer
In June 2021, an 87-year-old client won compassionate release, and many people asked whether the savings clause could open a path to relief under Borden.
- Borden v. United States: Reckless Crimes Don't Count Under the ACCA
On June 10, 2021, the Supreme Court held in Borden v. United States that a crime that can be committed recklessly is not a violent felony under the ACCA.
- June 4, 2021: The Safer Detention Act, Biden's Clemency Plans and Three § 2255 Cases
In June 2021, a bill to widen compassionate release cleared a Senate committee, Biden signaled clemency plans, and three court rulings showed how § 2255 cases can turn.
- Would Biden Grant Clemency to People on CARES Act Home Confinement?
In 2021, people on CARES Act home confinement hoped President Biden would use clemency to keep them home, and in December 2024 he commuted many of their sentences.
- Can You Use the Savings Clause for a Case Decided During Your 2255 Appeal?
Not anymore for most claims: the Sixth Circuit allowed it in 2020, but the Supreme Court closed that route in Jones v. Hendrix (2023).
- How Many People Had Contact With Police in 2018?
· Other
About 61.5 million people age 16 or older had contact with police in 2018, and Black and Hispanic residents were more likely to face force or handcuffs.
- Why Releasing More People Was the Best Way to Slow COVID-19 in Prisons
A 2020 article in The Lancet argued that releasing more people from prisons and jails was the most effective way to slow COVID-19 behind bars.
- Can You Still Challenge a Guilty Plea After Signing a Waiver?
· Appeals
Often yes: a waiver in a plea deal does not bar every challenge, and a government breach can void it, but winning can sometimes lead to a longer sentence.
- Who Decides If You Told the Truth for the Safety Valve? The Judge
The judge does, not the government: the Fifth Circuit held that a court must decide for itself whether a defendant was truthful enough for the safety valve.
- Kansas Prosecutors Refuse Court Order Over Secretly Recorded Attorney Meetings
· Trial
In 2020, federal prosecutors in Kansas refused a judge's order to open their files to prisoners whose meetings with their lawyers had been secretly recorded.
- How Long Do You Have to File a 2255 or Federal Habeas Petition?
Generally one year, usually counted from the date your conviction became final, though four different events can start the clock and a few exceptions can pause it.
- Can Risk Scores Make Sentencing Fairer? Limits and Alternatives
Risk assessment tools are not a reliable fix for over-incarceration on their own, Jessica Eaglin argues, because they can carry the system's old biases forward.
- Is It Ineffective for an Appeal Lawyer to Miss a Coming Change in the Law?
It can be. When a change in the law is clearly foreshadowed, an appeal lawyer who skips it may be ineffective, the Sixth Circuit held in Chase v. MaCauley.
- Are Risk Assessment Tools New? Their Long History in Sentencing
Not really: risk prediction shaped parole decisions and 1980s sentencing guidelines long before today's data-driven tools arrived.
- A Court Ruled People in Prison Were Owed 2020 Stimulus Payments
In September 2020, a federal judge ordered the IRS to stop denying the $1,200 CARES Act payment to people just because they were in prison.
- Risk Assessment Tools in Sentencing: Do They Help or Harm?
Risk assessment tools score how likely someone is to commit another crime, and many courts now use those scores at sentencing, which is why they are so debated.