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Hewitt v. United States

From Ballotpedia



Hewitt v. United States
Term: 2024
Important Dates
Argued: January 13, 2025 Decided: June 26, 2025
Outcome
reversed andremanded
Vote
5-4
Majority
Chief Justice John Roberts •Sonia Sotomayor •Elena Kagan •Neil Gorsuch •Ketanji Brown Jackson
Dissenting
Clarence Thomas •Samuel Alito •Brett Kavanaugh •Amy Coney Barrett

Hewitt v. United States is a case that was decided by theSupreme Court of the United States on June 26, 2025, during the court'sOctober 2024-2025 term. The case was argued before theSupreme Court of the United States on January 13, 2025. It was consolidated withDuffey v. United States.

In a 5-4 opinion, the courtreversed andremanded the judgment of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, holding that all first-time offenders including those who were sentenced before the First Step Act then needed to be resentenced after the Act, are subject to its revised penalties. JusticeKetanji Brown Jackson delivered the opinion of the court.^[1]

HIGHLIGHTS

The issue: The case concerned whether the First Step Act could retroactively apply to a party charged before the law was passed.Click here to learn more about the case's background.

The questions presented: "Whether the First Step Act's sentencing reduction provisions apply to a defendant originally sentenced before the First Step Act's enactment when that original sentence is judicially vacated and the defendant is resentenced to a new term of imprisonment after the First Step Act's enactment."^[2]

The outcome: In a 5-4 opinion, the courtreversed andremanded the judgment of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.^[1]

The case came on awrit ofcertiorari to theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. To review the lower court's opinion,click here.

Background

Case summary

The following are the parties to this case:^[3]

Petitioner: Corey Deyon Duffey and Jarvis Dupree Ross
- Legal counsel: Neal Kumar Katyal (Hogan Lovells US LLP)
Respondent: United States
- Legal counsel: D. John Sauer (United States Solicitor General)^[4]

The following summary of the case was published bySCOTUSblog:^[5]

“

In Hewitt v. United States and Duffey v. United States, the justices will consider an issue involving the interpretation of the First Step Act, a 2018 law that (among other things) reduced the mandatory minimum sentences for some federal drug and gun crimes. The question before the court in these cases is whether the sentence reductions apply to a defendant who was originally sentenced before the law was enacted but was then resentenced after the law’s enactment.^[6]

”

To learn more about this case, see the following:

Timeline

The following timeline details key events in this case:

June 26, 2025: The U.S. Supreme Courtreversed andremanded the judgment of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.^[1]
January 13, 2025: The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument.
July 2, 2024: The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case.
March 8, 2024: Tony Hewitt appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
February 2, 2024: TheUnited States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuitaffirmed theUnited States District Court for the Northern District of Texas' decision.

Questions presented

Thepetitioner presented the following questions to the court:^[2]

Questions presented:

“

Whether the First Step Act's sentencing reduction provisions apply to a defendant originally sentenced before the First Step Act's enactment when that original sentence is judicially vacated and the defendant is resentenced to a new term of imprisonment after the First Step Act's enactment.^[6]

”

Oral argument

Audio

Audio of oral argument:^[7]

Your browser doesn't support the audio tag.

Transcript

Transcript of oral argument:[8]

Outcome

Opinion

In the court's majority opinion, JusticeKetanji Brown Jackson wrote:^[1]

“	Under the interpretation of §403(b) we adopt today, all first-time §924(c) offenders who appear for sentencing after the First Step Act’s enactment date—including those whose previous §924(c) sentences have been vacated and who thus need to be resentenced—are subject to the Act’s revised penalties. The Fifth Circuit’s contrary reading of §403(b) is reversed, and its judgment in these cases is remanded for further proceedings^[6]	”
—JusticeKetanji Brown Jackson

Dissenting opinion

JusticeSamuel Alito filed a dissenting opinion, joined by JusticesClarence Thomas,Brett Kavanaugh, andAmy Coney Barrett.

In his dissent, Justice Alito wrote:^[1]

“	The Court ignores Congress’s intention to afford only limited retroactive relief to certain offenders under the First Step Act. Instead, the Court embraces an interpretation that has no limiting principle and affords petitioners a windfall. That is an indefensible result based on indefensible reasoning. I cannot agree with the Court’s decision, so I must respectfully dissent.^[6]	”
—JusticeSamuel Alito

Text of the opinion

Read the full opinionhere.

October term 2024-2025

See also:Supreme Court cases, October term 2024-2025

The Supreme Court began hearing cases for the term on October 7, 2024. The court's yearly term begins on the first Monday in October and lasts until the first Monday in October the following year. The court generally releases the majority of its decisions in mid-June.^[9]