Federal Defenders of New York Blog

The Supreme Court ruled in Hunter v. United States, No. 24-1063 (U.S. June 18, 2026), that appellate courts will not enforce an appellate waiver in a plea agreement when enforcing it “would result in a miscarriage of justice — meaning, when it would leave in place the kind of egregious error that would bring the ...

The Supreme Court just decided Abouammo v. United States, No. 25-5146 (U.S. June 11, 2026), which significantly narrows where venue may lie in the Second Circuit. A brief summary of the case is followed by its three key rulings. Section 1519 of Title 18 makes it a crime to “knowingly… falsif[y]… any record, document, or ...

Last week the Supreme Court decided two companion cases (Rutherford v. United States and Fernandez v. United States) largely confining 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A), colloquially known as compassionate release, to its historic core as a remedy grounded on a prisoner’s personal circumstances (such as age or infirmity), and not a vehicle for litigating the legality ...

United States v. Parasmo, No. 23-6555 (2d Cir. May 19, 2026) (Sullivan, joined by Kearse, Robinson dissenting) The Second Circuit affirmed Frank Parasmo’s conviction on thirty-two counts of unlawfully distributing controlled substances under 21 U.S.C. § 841, despite acknowledging — as it had to after Ruan v. United States, 597 U.S. 450 (2022) — that ...

United States v. Dralle, No. 24-2424 (2d Cir. May 12, 2026) (Bianco, joined by Robinson; Sullivan dissenting). On plain-error review, the Second Circuit vacated Chase Dralle’s 30-month sentence for receipt of a trafficked firearm and remanded for resentencing. Judge Bianco’s opinion identifies two procedural errors: The sentencing court erred in (1) accepting at face value ... <...