sentencing-disparity
50 cases — ← All topics
| Case | Title | Lower Court | Docketed | Status | Flags | Tags | Question Presented |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25-7134 | Martin Chavez-Zarate v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2026-04-01 | Pending | Response WaivedIFP | 18-USC-3553 compassionate-release immigration-status noncitizen-rights sentence-reduction-programs sentencing-disparity | The circuits are split on whether courts can consider the fact that a noncitizen cannot participate in programs that would reduce their sentence or ar… |
| 25-5853 | Clarence Santiago v. United States | Fifth Circuit | 2025-10-09 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | circuit-split criminal-conduct federal-procedure sentencing-disparity sentencing-guidelines statutory-interpretation | In assessing whether two defendants are similarly situated for purposes of § 3553(a)(6), are courts required to consider their actual offense conduct? |
| 25-5776 | Thomas Scott Perkins v. United States | Fifth Circuit | 2025-10-01 | Denied | Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2)IFP | comparative-analysis federal-sentencing judicial-discretion sentencing-commission sentencing-disparity statutory-interpretation | Whether the detailed Judiciary Sentencing Information (JSIN) statistics compiled by the United States Sentencing Commission are relevant to considerin… |
| 25-5205 | Jesus Garcia, Jr. v. United States | Fifth Circuit | 2025-07-28 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | criminal-sentencing federal-sentencing-guidelines judicial-statistics sentencing-commission sentencing-disparity statutory-interpretation | Whether the detailed Judiciary Sentencing Information (JSIN) statistics compiled by the United States Sentencing Commission are relevant to considerin… |
| 25-5105 | Anthony Michael Laporte v. United States | Fourth Circuit | 2025-07-15 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | bureau-of-prisons extraordinary-compelling-reason mental-health-treatment rehabilitation sentence-reduction sentencing-disparity | 1. Can rehabilitation efforts, when combined with other issues, constitute an extraordinary and compelling reason to reduce a sentence? 2. Can the di… |
| 24-6824 | Hansel Janel Rijo-Guerrero v. United States | First Circuit | 2025-03-21 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | criminal-procedure downward-variance drug-trafficking sentencing-disparity sentencing-enhancement ussg-guidelines | 1. Did the district court err when it imposed a two-level sentencing enhancement pursuant to USSG § 2D1.1(b)(3)(C) where the Government failed to prov… |
| 24-6161 | Leonard Hatten, Jr. v. United States | Eighth Circuit | 2024-12-18 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | co-defendant-comparison criminal-sentencing federal-sentencing-guidelines judicial-discretion reasonableness-review sentencing-disparity | 1. Was the sentence of the Defendant unreasonable because it resulted in unwarranted sentencing disparities among his co-defendants? |
| 24-5980 | Vernell Moore v. United States | Sixth Circuit | 2024-11-15 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | district-court-discretion eighth-amendment methamphetamine-enhancement proportionality-of-punishment sentencing-disparity sentencing-guidelines | Whether both the District Court and Sixth Circuit erred in determining that the District Court was entitled to apply the 10:1 enhancement for methamph… |
| 24-5369 | Tommy T. Branch v. United States | District of Columbia | 2024-08-22 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | covid-19 imprisonment legislative-response rehabilitation sentencing-disparity term-reduction | Question not identified. |
| 24-5054 | Amir Aqeel v. United States | Fifth Circuit | 2024-07-11 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | bias culpability due-process equal-justice fairness Involuntary-Plea-Agreement mandatory-guidelines nationality nationality-bias plea-agreement religion sentencing sentencing-disparity Violation-of-Policy-5H1.10 | 1. **Sentencing Disparity:** Whether a significant disparity in the sentencing of co-defendants violates the principle of equal justice under the law,… |
| 23-7324 | Danilo Velasquez v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2024-04-29 | Denied | Response WaivedRelisted (2)IFP | constitutional-rights criminal-sentencing deportation gang jury-trial-rights plea-bargaining rico rico-case section-2255 sentencing-disparity | Following the grant of petitioner's section 2255 motion, the district court resentenced petitioner to discretionary life in this RICO gang case. This … |
| 23A687 | Danilo Arturo Velasquez v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2024-01-24 | Presumed Complete | criminal-appeal federal-sentencing ninth-circuit rico-conspiracy sentencing-disparity statutory-interpretation | Question not identified. | |
| 23-5698 | Roy Christopher West v. United States | Sixth Circuit | 2023-10-02 | Denied | Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2)IFP | circuit-split compassionate-release concepcion-v-united-states district-court-discretion equal-protection extraordinary-and-compelling-reasons first-step-act judicial-discretion sentencing-disparity | 1) Whether the Sixth Circuit's Threshold Determination of No Compelling Reasons Under the First Step Act of 2018 for Compassionate Release is Erroneou… |
| 23-5148 | Bernard Edmond v. United States | Sixth Circuit | 2023-07-20 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 18-usc-3553 circuit-split compassionate-release criminal-sentencing extraordinary-and-compelling-factors first-step-act resentencing retroactive-application sentencing-disparity | WHETHER THIS COURT SHOULD GRANT THIS APPLICATION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI AND RESOLVE A SPLIT BETWEEN THE FEDERAL CIRCUIT COURTS AND APPLY RETROACTIVELY… |
| 22-6929 | Forrest Thomas III v. Brandon M. Smith, Warden | Fifth Circuit | 2023-03-03 | Denied | IFP | civil-rights constitutional-law criminal-procedure due-process equal-protection habeas-corpus plea-bargaining sentencing sentencing-disparity sex-offender-registration | Whether a sex offender registry statute, when applied to predators convicted of rape without any sexual motivation to the offense, bears a reasonable … |
| 22-6006 | Justin Richard Testani v. United States | Eleventh Circuit | 2022-11-07 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | child-pornography criminal-history cruel-and-unusual-punishment eighth-amendment mental-capacity sentencing sentencing-disparity | 1. Whether a 720-month sentence violates the Eighth Amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual sentences when Mr. Testani never had physical contact w… |
| 22-5097 | Hidey Diaz, aka Silvio Manuel Amador, aka Celio Alvarez-Carrasco v. United States | Tenth Circuit | 2022-07-13 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 10th-circuit circuit-court-review criminal-sentencing federal-prosecution government-action guideline-range sentencing-disparity sentencing-guidelines statutory-directive substantive-reasonableness unwarranted-disparity | Did the Tenth Circuit err in concluding that it was barred from considering, on review for the substantive reasonableness of Mr. Diaz's sentence, the … |
| 22-5090 | Michelle C. Cantatore v. United States | Third Circuit | 2022-07-13 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | certificate-of-appealability criminal-history district-court-discretion evidentiary-hearing habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance-of-counsel section-2255 sentencing sentencing-counsel sentencing-disparity | Whether the Third Circuit's denial of a certificate of appealability, where the district court erred or alternatively abused its discretion by denying… |
| 21-8118 | Myron Dejuan Orr v. United States | Eighth Circuit | 2022-06-10 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 18-U.S.C.-3553(a) 18-U.S.C.-3582(c) 18-usc-3553a 18-usc-3582c abuse-of-discretion circuit-split extraordinary-and-or-compelling-reasons first-step-act sentencing-disparity | 1. Whether the lower courts rulings amount to an An abuse of discretion when failing to consider That a disparity in sentencing amounts to an abuse … |
| 21-7391 | Isaiah Ramon Henderson v. United States | Eighth Circuit | 2022-03-16 | Denied | Amici (1)Response WaivedIFP | circuit-split controlled-substances controlled-substances-act criminal-procedure federal-law federal-sentencing-guidelines sentencing-disparity sentencing-guidelines statutory-interpretation | Whether "controlled substance[s]" in the Federal Sentencing Guidelines § 4B1.2(b) are limited to those substances defined and regulated under the fede… |
| 21-6930 | Juan Rivera-George, aka Tio v. United States | First Circuit | 2022-01-20 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | confrontation cross-examination-limitation fair-trial hearsay-admission impartial-jury impeachment-evidence jury-bias jury-impartiality sentencing sentencing-disparity sixth-amendment sixth-amendment-right | 1. Whether Juan Rivera-George ("Juan") was deprived of his Sixth Amendment right to a fair trial by an impartial jury when the District Court failed t… |
| 21-6687 | Rory Lee Zirkelbach v. United States | Eighth Circuit | 2021-12-21 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 18-usc-3582 career-offender district-court-discretion extraordinary-and-compelling extraordinary-reasons sentence-reduction sentencing-disparity sentencing-error sentencing-guideline statutory-interpretation | Did the district court err when it imposed an extratextual limitation on its statutory authority to determine what amounts to an "extraordinary and co… |
| 21-6014 | Yina Maria Castaneda Benavidez, aka La Reina, aka Ingeniera v. United States | Eleventh Circuit | 2021-10-19 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appeal conspiracy constitutional-rights criminal-law criminal-procedure drug-trafficking due-process evidence evidence-standard knowledge-element sentencing sentencing-disparity | This petition arises from the affirm ance of a judgment of conviction and sentence to a term of 22 ½ years ' incarceration following a jury trial for … |
| 20-8398 | Jonathan Jerome Hills v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2021-06-24 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 18-usc-3553 criminal-justice criminal-sentencing due-process equal-protection first-step-act judicial-discretion procedural-opportunity sentencing sentencing-disparity statutory-interpretation | Whether differences in procedural opportunity arising from the fact that a defendant is statutorily eligible for relief under the First Step Act, such… |
| 20-8284 | Harold Gashe v. United States | Eighth Circuit | 2021-06-14 | Denied | Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2)IFP | appellate-court-split appellate-review criminal-justice due-process equal-protection extraordinary-reasons judicial-discretion section-3582 sentencing sentencing-disparity statutory-interpretation | Is it fair and equal justice for defendants who present under that the previously harsh 924(c) stacking is an extraordinary and compelling reason dese… |
| 20-7973 | Zavion Nunley v. United States | Fifth Circuit | 2021-05-11 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appellate-review circuit-split data-availability judicial-discretion nationwide-statistics reasonableness-of-sentence sentencing-disparities sentencing-disparity sentencing-guidelines statistical-analysis unwarranted-disparities | Whether statistics demonstrating that judges in the sentencing district impose above-guideline-range sentences much more frequently than their peers i… |
| 20-7246 | Renaldo Demarquis Metcalf v. United States | Fourth Circuit | 2021-02-25 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | career-offender criminal-history judicial-doctrine legal-departure sentencing-disparity sentencing-guidelines sentencing-process | Does the use of the "de facto career offender" doctrine distort the sentencing process and lead to unwarranted sentencing disparity? |
| 20-6087 | Tana Chris Lawrence v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2020-10-20 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | certificate-of-appealability habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel judicial-review plea-agreement sentencing sentencing-disparity standard-of-review | 1. Whether the District Court erred in rejecting petitioner's claim that her attorney provided ineffective assistance of counsel by failing to object … |
| 20-6067 | Angeledith Saramaylene Smith v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2020-10-20 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | certificate-of-appealability evidentiary-hearing habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel ninth-circuit plea-agreement sentencing sentencing-disparity | Whether the District Court erred in rejecting petitioner's claim that her attorney provided ineffective assistance of counsel by failing to object to … |
| 20-6057 | David Lee Emmert, Jr. v. United States | Eighth Circuit | 2020-10-16 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | child-pornography criminal-defendants criminal-enhancement due-process equal-protection immigration liberty-interest sentencing-disparity sexual-abuse-minor statutory-interpretation | As of right now, immigration cases use the Esquivel-Quintana standard exposure to statutory penalty for "any 1' prior felony of "sexual abuse of a min… |
| 19-8849 | Linda Pedroza v. Florida | Florida | 2020-07-02 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | constitutional-rights cruel-and-unusual-punishment eighth-amendment juvenile-offender juvenile-sentencing parole proportionality second-degree-homicide sentencing sentencing-disparity | Where a juvenile offender is sentenced to a term of 40 years in prison for a second degree homicide, and that sentence places her in a worse position … |
| 19-8680 | Adrian Zitalpopoca-Hernandez v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2020-06-11 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 18-usc-3553 circuit-split comparative-sentencing criminal-sentencing federal-sentencing federal-sentencing-guidelines judicial-discretion sentencing-disparities sentencing-disparity statutory-interpretation | To avoid "unwarranted sentence disparities," does 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(6) require federal judges to compare a defendant's sentence to the sentences of … |
| 19-8515 | Michael Munday v. United States | Eleventh Circuit | 2020-05-21 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | disparate-sentencing double-jeopardy due-process fairness fifth-amendment judicial-review reasonableness sentencing sentencing-disparity sixth-amendment | In affirming the 12-year upward departure sentence, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has so far departed from the accepted and usual course of ju… |
| 19-7827 | Terry O'Nell Hall v. Texas | Texas | 2020-03-02 | Denied | IFP | co-defendant confrontation-clause criminal-trial cruel-and-unusual-punishment due-process evidentiary-inconsistency fundamental-fairness inconsistent-testimony right-to-fair-trial sentencing-disparity victim-testimony witness-testimony | DID THE COURT OF APPEALS ERR IN DECIDE PETITIONER'S RIGHT TD DUE P WAS NOT VIOLATED, WHERE THE VICTIM TESTIFIED ONE WAY DURING HIS TRIAL AND THEN TEST… |
| 19-7626 | Lonnie Rarden v. Ohio | Ohio | 2020-02-12 | Dismissed | IFP | cruel-and-unusual-punishment disproportionate-sentences due-process eighth-amendment non-violent-offense non-violent-offenses proportionality-review sentencing sentencing-disparity | Is sentencing a defendant to a de facto life sentence for non-violent offenses fall within a violation of the eight amendment right of cruel and unusu… |
| 19-6746 | Michael Anthony Mitchell v. United States | Fourth Circuit | 2019-11-25 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appellate-review due-process equal-protection fair-hearing ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel sentencing sentencing-disparities sentencing-disparity sentencing-review unwarranted-sentence waiver-of-rights | Does a waiver of direct appeal rights and collateral rights excepting claims premised on ineffective assistance of counsel violate a defendant's "due … |
| 19-6513 | Deyoe R. Harris v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2019-11-07 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 2nd-amendment civil-rights constitutional-law constitutional-review controlled-substances criminal-justice drug-policy due-process federal-law federalism free-speech sentencing-disparity standing takings | ①Is it clear that like one hondred years ago with esulted in ALL Americans? or 2sayt x0t pvo apogba hds o4 t2g SI② ubstances because people will use t… |
| 19-6255 | Kunta Kenta Redd v. United States | Fourth Circuit | 2019-10-11 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | crack-cocaine crack-cocaine-sentencing criminal-justice-reform due-process first-step-act retroactivity section-404 sentencing-disparity sentencing-guidelines sentencing-reform sixth-amendment statutory-interpretation | Whether me, the Petitioner, is entitled to Relief from denial 404 motion at the District Court level in light of the First Step Act, December 21st, 20… |
| 19-6067 | Francisco Suarez v. United States | Eleventh Circuit | 2019-09-25 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appellate-review circuit-conflict codefendant-comparison criminal-procedure-error eighth-circuit intra-circuit-conflict legal-standard public-safety sentencing-disparity sentencing-guidelines united-states-v-darden united-states-v-smith | I. WHETHER THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT'S DECISION IN UNITED STATES V. SMITH, AND CONFLICTS WITH THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT COURT IN UNITED STATES V. DARDEN? II. WHE… |
| 19-5528 | Robert Anthony Chester v. West Virginia | West Virginia | 2019-08-08 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | co-defendant co-defendants constitutional-proportionality criminal-sentencing cruel-and-unusual-punishment disparate-sentencing disproportionate-sentencing eighth-amendment equal-protection first-degree-robbery sentencing sentencing-disparity | Was Petitioner's One Hundred Eighty Year Sentence For His Conviction Of Two Counts Of First Degree Robbery Disparate To The Twenty Year Sentence Impos… |
| 18-9049 | Jackie Madore v. United States | First Circuit | 2019-04-30 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appellate-procedure appellate-waivers contract-law criminal-law criminal-procedure due-process plea-agreement plea-bargaining sentencing sentencing-disparity | I. Whether the Supreme Court of the United States should review appellate waivers in criminal cases under principles of contract law. A concatenation … |
| 18-7569 | Paul William Scott v. Julie L. Jones, Secretary, Florida Department of Corrections | Florida | 2019-01-25 | Denied | IFP | codefendant-comparison constitutional-proportionality cruel-and-unusual-punishment death-penalty due-process eighth-amendment equal-protection sentencing-disparity | Whether Florida's refusal to consider the disparity between the 15-year prison term of his equal or more culpable codefendant and Scott's death senten… |
| 18-7568 | Richard Earl Shere, Jr. v. Florida | Florida | 2019-01-25 | Denied | IFP | co-defendant constitutional-review death-penalty equal-protection equal-protection,death-penalty,sentencing,retroact hurst-v-florida mccloud-v-state retroactivity ring-v-arizona sentencing-disparity | 1. Whether Mr. Shere's case is no longer one of the most aggravated and least mitigated following Hurst v. Florida and he should have been convicted o… |
| 18-6498 | Gildardo Majalca-Aguilar v. United States | Tenth Circuit | 2018-10-30 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 18-usc-3582 amendment-782 criminal-procedure criminal-sentencing district-court-discretion drug-conspiracy drug-quantity due-process equal-protection sentence-reduction sentencing-disparity sentencing-guidelines | The United States District Court of New Mexico denied the motion for reduction the sentence, Amendment 782 §3582(c)(2) spite the quantity of drugs inv… |
| 18-6391 | Matthew Vaughn Hawks v. United States | Eleventh Circuit | 2018-10-19 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appeals criminal-procedure due-process eleventh-circuit federal-rules-of-criminal-procedure mental-disability plain-error sentencing sentencing-disparity sentencing-reasonableness substantial-rights united-states-v-olano | I. Whether the Eleventh Circuit Misapplied Fed. R. Crim. P. 52(b) and United States v. Olano, 507 U.S. 725 (1998) by Failing to Grant Relief for Plain… |
| 18-6208 | Nicholas Ryan Hemsher v. United States | Eighth Circuit | 2018-10-03 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 18-usc-3553 8th-circuit appellate-review circuit-split co-conspirators criminal-enhancement criminal-procedure sentencing-disparities sentencing-disparities-18-usc-3553-a-6 sentencing-disparity sentencing-guidelines statutory-interpretation | 1) Whether the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals erred in finding that the statutory direction to avoid unwarranted disparities among defendants, 18 U.S… |
| 18-5606 | Hagop Demirjian v. United States | Seventh Circuit | 2018-08-15 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | 18-usc-3582 amendment-782 circuit-split civil-procedure criminal-procedure due-process equal-protection judicial-discretion section-3582 sentence-disparity sentencing sentencing-disparity statutory-interpretation | Issue #1 THERE IS A DIVISION AMONG THE CIRCUITS REGARDING ANY STATUTORY PRECLUSION FOR SUCCESSIVE §3582 MOTIONS, EMPLOYING U.S. v. Beard, 745 F.3d 288… |
| 18-5408 | Norberto Serna v. California | California | 2018-07-31 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | bodily-harm criminal-law cruel-and-unusual-punishment due-process eighth-amendment equal-protection extortion kidnapping sentencing sentencing-disparity | I. Whether California violates the Equal Protection Clause by imposing a harsher maximum sentence on kidnapper-extortionists—who harm their victims an… |
| 18-5273 | Davian Wilson v. United States | Fifth Circuit | 2018-07-18 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | authentication criminal-procedure criminal-procedure-sufficiency-of-evidence criminal-trial evidence-authentication federal-criminal-procedure federal-jurisdiction guilty-verdict jury-verdict native-american reasonable-jury sentencing-disparities sentencing-disparity standard-of-review sufficiency-of-evidence | 1) Whether the district court erred by finding that the prosecution produced sufficient evidence at trial for a reasonable jury to return a guilty ver… |
| 18-5129 | Rodolfo Trejo v. United States | Sixth Circuit | 2018-07-06 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appellate-review criminal-procedure criminal-sentencing double-counting due-process eighth-amendment equal-protection immigration sentencing sentencing-disparity sentencing-guidelines statutory-interpretation substantive-reasonableness | I.- Whether Petitioner's Sentence Constitutes Impermissible Double Counting. Whether Petitioner's Sentence is Substantively Unreasonable Under the th… |