The importance of adequately preparing a client to effectively cooperate with the government is illustrated by the recent fifty percent sentencing reduction granted to Dr. Michael Ligotti by Judge Ruiz in the Southern...more
Effective November 1, 2023, the United States Sentencing Commission’s Amendment 821, also known as the “2023 Criminal History Amendment,” has officially become part of the federal sentencing guidelines. Thousands of...more
Some nonviolent federal inmates could be released immediately or very soon now that the U.S. Department of Justice has issued a final rule that will retroactively award time credits under the First Step Act (FSA). The...more
In a previous blog, I provided an overview of Section 3582(c) with respect to the modification of prison terms. In addition, I looked at two recent cases (United States v. Higa [Hawaii] & United States v. McGrath [Ohio]) that...more
The risk of becoming infected with COVID-19 while incarcerated is significant and widely documented in the U.S. On Thursday, the Federal Bureau of Prisons reported that 4,718 federal inmates and 2,049 bureau staff members...more
Since the pandemic began, the federal courts have been inundated with Compassionate Release applications from attorneys seeking the immediate or early release of clients in custody. Compassionate Release is indeed a feasible...more
An informant is sent into the midst of a criminal gang. He is wearing a concealed device, crudely taped to his chest. Law enforcement agents listen in from the back of an unmarked van parked inconspicuously nearby hoping to...more
On January 31, 2019, the Second Circuit issued a per curiam decision in United States v. Thrower (Wesley, Chin, and Cote, by designation) reversing a 2017 judgment from the Eastern District of New York that reduced the...more
Kim Kardashian West made national news this summer after successfully convincing President Donald Trump to commute the sentence of Alice Marie Johnson. Johnson, a sixty-three year old great-grandmother, was a first-time...more
On June 19, 2018, in a split decision in United States v. Sawyer, No. 15-2276 (Jacobs, Pooler, Crawford) the Circuit issued a firm rebuke of a District Court judge who – per the Circuit’s mandate – reduced the defendant’s...more
In United States v. Brooks, the Court (Leval, Pooler, Hall) reiterated that district courts are required to calculate the applicable Sentencing Guidelines range when faced with a § 3582(c)(2) motion for a sentence reduction,...more
How do the lower courts apply a Supreme Court decision when there is no majority opinion to serve as precedent? This problem happens more often than one would think: Four justices take part in a plurality opinion, and one...more
In a summary order on January 2, 2018 in United States v. Reyes, the Court (Winter, Lynch, Droney) vacated and remanded a life sentence as procedurally unreasonable on the ground that the district court failed to properly...more
In United States v. Singh, 16-1111-cr (Kearse, Hall, Chin), the Second Circuit vacated the defendant’s 60-month prison sentence—which was nearly three times the top of his Guidelines range—for illegally reentering the United...more
In United States v. Delacruz, No. 15-4174, the Second Circuit (Kearse, Lohier, Droney) vacated a defendant’s sentence, holding that the district court’s findings supporting the defendant’s failure to accept responsibility...more
The 2017 regular session of the West Virginia Legislature saw several changes in laws relevant to employers. Changes of interest to employers include the West Virginia Safer Workplace Act, Second Chance for Employment Act,...more
A Second Circuit panel has ruled that infamous mob boss Carmine “The Snake” Persico will continue serving his 100-year sentence in federal prison. In United States v. Persico, 16-2361, the Second Circuit (Walker, Jacobs,...more
On February 16, 2017, the Second Circuit (Leval, Calabresi, Carney) issued a summary order in United States v. Lopez, No. 16-1019, vacating and remanding for reconsideration the district court’s denial of the appellant’s...more
In United States v. Leonard, No. 15-22-32-cr (December 14, 2016) (Raggi, Chin, Droney), the Second Circuit vacated and remanded an order finding a defendant ineligible for a sentence reduction based on a retroactive amendment...more