Source: sentencinglawandpolicy.wordpress.com 3/25/26
The US Supreme Court handed down one criminal law opinion this morning, Rico v. United States, No. 24–1056 (S. Ct. March 25, 2026), and it is a notable statutory win for a federal criminal defendant who absconded with on supervised release. The facts and issue are a bit complicated, but Justice Gorsuch’s opinion for the Court sets up the circuit conflict that was before the Justices and how it was resolved:
Some circuits, like the Ninth, hold that a defendant’s failure to report doesn’t just amount to a punishable supervised release violation but also automatically extends his term of supervised release. Others disagree, taking Ms. Rico’s view that abscondment does not automatically extend a term of supervised release….
The Sentencing Reform Act provides courts with many tools to address defendants who fail to report or otherwise violate their supervised release conditions. But automatically extending a term of supervised release is not among them…
The Sentencing Reform Act provides courts with many tools to address defendants who fail to report or otherwise violate their supervised release conditions. But automatically extending a term of supervised release is not among them the absence …