November 12, 2025
Justices in the U.S. Supreme Court's conservative faction questioned Wednesday whether the U.S. Sentencing Commission overstepped when it said reductions in mandatory minimum sentences could be part of a court's consideration when weighing "compassionate release" for federal prisoners.
November 08, 2025
The U.S. Supreme Court will return Monday for a short week of arguments, in which the justices will consider whether state and local government officials can be held personally liable for alleged religious rights violations, and whether government contractors are entitled to immediately appeal denials of derivative sovereign immunity.
October 03, 2025
A slate of upcoming arguments will offer the U.S. Supreme Court the opportunity to weigh criminal defendants' ability to pursue claims of double jeopardy, secure sentencing relief and confer with trial counsel during overnight pauses in their testimony.
October 03, 2025
The U.S. Supreme Court's docket is packed with cases that hinge on issues of criminal law, teeing up a term that could affect the U.S. Sentencing Commission's powers and clarify where the justices stand on procedural and constitutional questions of criminal law, experts say.
September 29, 2025
The federal government has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to find that Congress never intended certain sentencing reduction provisions within the 2018 First Step Act to be applied retroactively, and to resolve a 6-4 circuit split.
July 29, 2025
The First Step Act drastically reduced the mandatory minimum sentences for certain federal crimes, but it will be up to the U.S. Supreme Court to settle a 6-4 circuit split over whether courts can consider those changes when weighing a prisoner's compassionate release, attorneys tell Law360.
June 06, 2025
An "apparent software malfunction" caused the U.S. Supreme Court's order list to be issued early Friday, orders in which the justices granted certiorari in four cases and refused to take up a long list of other ones, including cases centered on Pennsylvania's election system and the Obama Presidential Center.