Top News
2025 Amendments to the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines
| In the News, Sentencing, Top News
The 2025 Federal Sentencing Guidelines, set to take effect on November 1, 2025, include notable changes such as eliminating “departures” from the Guidelines, increasing judicial discretion in imposing terms of supervised release (and often in favor of leniency), and resolving circuit splits regarding enhancements for offenses involving “physical restraint,” “intervening arrests,” minor role reductions, firearms, and criminal history calculations.
The U.S. Sentencing Commission’s 2024 Proposed Amendments to the Guidelines
| In the News, Sentencing, Top News
Late last month, the U.S. Sentencing Commission delivered its annual proposed amendments to the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. Accordingly, we’ve broken down the most significant changes, including a new prohibition on increasing a defendant’s sentence based on acquitted conduct, an amendment reinforcing the availability of intended loss and unlawful gain as measures for calculating a defendant’s loss amount, clarifying amendments regarding certain firearm enhancements, and a new downward departure for youthful offenders.
GUEST BLOG: Breaking Down the US Sentencing Commission’s Proposed Guidelines Amendments for 2024
| In the News, Sentencing, Top News
Zachary Newland of Newland Legal provides a detailed breakdown of the U.S. Sentencing Commission’s proposed amendments to the Guidelines, which will be incorporated into the 2024 Guidelines Manual.
Recent Supreme Court Opinions
Hewitt v. United States (U.S. Supreme Court, June 2025)
| Appellate Procedure, Recent SCOTUS Cases, Section 924(c), Sentencing, Supreme Court Opinions
In a 5-4 opinion, the Supreme Court held that the First Step Act’s reduced penalties for § 924(c) offenses apply at a defendant’s resentencing when the defendant’s prior sentence has been vacated. The Court reasoned that a vacated sentence is a sentence that “has not been imposed” within the meaning of § 403(b).
Esteras v. United States (U.S. Supreme Court, June 2025)
| Recent SCOTUS Cases, Revocation Proceedings, Supervised Release, Supreme Court Opinions
In a 7-2 opinion, the Supreme Court reversed a revocation sentence, holding that courts may not consider retribution (the need for the sentence imposed “to reflect the seriousness of the offense, promote respect for the law, and provide just punishment for the offense”) when deciding whether to revoke a defendant’s supervised release under 18 U.S.C. § 3583(e).
Kousisis v. United States (U.S. Supreme Court, May 2025)
| Fraud Cases, Recent SCOTUS Cases, Supreme Court Opinions
In a 7-2 opinion, the Supreme Court held that a defendant who induces a victim to enter a transaction under materially false pretenses may be convicted of wire fraud even if he did not seek to cause economic loss.
Recent Circuit Court Opinions
United States v. Buchanan (11th Cir. August 2025)
| Eleventh Circuit, Fraud Cases, Recent Circuit Cases, Restitution, Sentencing
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed convictions arising from a check-cashing and mail-theft scheme, rejected a Dubin challenge to the defendant’s conviction for aggravated identity theft, vacated the “sophisticated means” enhancement for lack of defendant-specific conduct, and vacated restitution tied to the defendant’s pre-participation conduct.
United States v. Guevara-Lopez (10th Cir. August 2025)
| Recent Circuit Cases, Sentencing, Tenth Circuit
In a sentencing appeal, the Tenth Circuit vacated a 60-month upward-variance sentence for attempted bulk-cash smuggling as substantively unreasonable, citing reliance on a material misstatement and inadequate treatment of sentencing-disparity evidence. The district court’s sentence was an outlier in light of national sentencing data and relied on a false belief that the defendant had been on bond during the offense.
United States v. Hardy (10th Cir. August 2025)
| Drug Offenses, Recent Circuit Cases, Sentencing, Tenth Circuit
In a drug-conspiracy appeal, the Tenth Circuit affirmed the conviction but vacated the sentence after finding the district court’s drug-quantity estimate relied on unreliable confidential-source hearsay. The court rejected a due-process challenge to an in-chambers evidentiary ruling and held any Rule 404(b) error harmless.
The Federal Docket
The Federal Docket is a monthly newsletter providing lawyers and the community a summary of recent important decisions in the area of federal criminal law from the United States Supreme Court and the Circuit Courts of Appeal. The opinions are compiled, summarized and analyzed by Tom Church, an attorney in our firm’s federal criminal defense practice.
