News · Page 10 of 10
Federal Sentencing News Archive, Page 10
This page is at the older end of the news archive. The list runs newest first, 20 items to a page, so the notes here are among the oldest on sentencing.net: case notes on guideline disputes written before the amendments that took effect in 2025 and 2026. As new notes are added, older ones move to later pages.
Read the date on each note before you use it. A holding from 2017 can still matter, and it can also be limited by a later decision. Jones v. Hendrix, 599 U.S. 465 (2023), is one example: it narrowed the path for a second habeas attack after a new reading of a criminal statute. Amendment 836, effective November 1, 2025, removed nearly all departures, so a 2016 discussion of a departure is history unless the note's update says otherwise. The current two-step process is on departures and variances.
Newer material is on page 1. Topic lists, if you already know the subject, are the sentencing articles, the legislation archive, and the court-decision and law-change hubs. These pages are general information about federal cases.
- Puerto Rico Federal Judges Can't Raise a Sentence Using Untranslated Spanish Records
Under the Jones Act, federal court in Puerto Rico must be conducted in English, so a judge cannot raise a sentence based on an untranslated Spanish record.
- Is Burrage Retroactive? The Santillana Ruling and Jones v. Hendrix
Burrage is retroactive, the Fifth Circuit held in 2017, but Jones v. Hendrix (2023) has since closed the § 2241 route that case used.
- Does a Texas Drug Prior Make You a Career Offender? United States v. Tanksley
Not under Tanksley: the Fifth Circuit held that a Texas possession-with-intent-to-deliver conviction is not a guidelines controlled substance offense.
- Judge Treated the Guidelines as Mandatory: Sentence Vacated
The sentencing guidelines are advice, not law, so a judge who says he has no choice but to follow them makes an error, as the Fourth Circuit held in Perry.
- Does a Florida False Imprisonment Conviction Count Under the ACCA?
Not automatically: the Eleventh Circuit held that Florida false imprisonment can be committed without force, so it does not always count under the ACCA.
- Fraud Loss and Restitution: The Government Must Prove Investors Relied on the Lies
In a securities fraud case, the government cannot count every investor's loss without proof that those investors actually relied on the lies.
- Does an Oregon Drug Delivery Conviction Match Federal Drug Trafficking?
Not automatically: the Ninth Circuit held that Oregon's delivery law covered offers to sell, which federal drug law does not make a crime.
- Can a Judge's Religious Views Affect a Sentence? Not Under United States v. Hall
No. The Eleventh Circuit ordered a new sentencing after a judge twice called the defendant a "demon" while explaining a 36-month prison term.
- Can Supervised Release Be Revoked After the Term Ends?
Generally no. A court cannot revoke supervised release after the term ends unless a warrant or summons was issued before it ended.
- 53 Convictions Set Aside Because the Judge Answered Jury Notes in Secret
· Trial
The Eleventh Circuit set aside 53 convictions because the trial judge answered two jury notes without telling the defendant or his lawyers.
- Judge Used the Wrong Mandatory Minimum: Amendment 782 Reduction Sent Back
If a judge reduces your sentence using the wrong mandatory minimum, an appeals court may send the case back so the judge can decide again.
- Can a Judge Give More Prison Time So You Can Get Drug Treatment?
No. Under Tapia v. United States, a federal judge may not impose or lengthen a prison term so a person can get drug treatment or job training.
- Robbery Sentence Reversed: Bodily Injury Enhancement Not Supported
A judge cannot sentence you more harshly than your co-defendants based on facts that are not in the record, the First Circuit held in Cotto-Negrón.