Hewitt v. United States

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Supreme Court of the United States
Hewitt v. United States
Term: 2024
Important Dates
Argued: January 13, 2025
Decided: June 26, 2025
Outcome
reversed and remanded
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 the Supreme Court of the United States on June 26, 2025, during the court's October 2024-2025 term. The case was argued before the Supreme Court of the United States on January 13, 2025. It was consolidated with Duffey v. United States.

In a 5-4 opinion, the court reversed and remanded the judgment of the United 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. Justice Ketanji 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 court reversed and remanded the judgment of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.[1]


    • The case came on a writ of certiorari to the United 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

    The following summary of the case was published by SCOTUSblog:[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:

    Questions presented

    The petitioner 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]



    Transcript

    Transcript of oral argument:[8]

    Outcome

    In a 5-4 opinion, the court reversed and remanded the judgment of the United 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. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson delivered the opinion of the court.[1]

    Opinion

    In the court's majority opinion, Justice Ketanji 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]

    		”
    —Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson

    Dissenting opinion

    Justice Samuel Alito filed a dissenting opinion, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy 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]

    		”
    —Justice Samuel Alito

    Text of the opinion

    Read the full opinion here.

    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]


    See also

    External links

    Footnotes

    1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Supreme Court of the United States, "Hewitt v. United States," June 26, 2025
    2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Supreme Court of the United States, "23-1002 HEWITT V. UNITED STATES QP", July 2, 2024
    3. ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, "No. 23-1150," accessed August 19, 2024
    4. ↑ Note: When this case was argued, counsel was given by former United States Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar.
    5. ↑ SCOTUSblog, "Justices add five cases out of clean-up conference," July 2, 2024
    6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
    7. ↑ [https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/audio/2024/23-1002 Supreme Court of the United States, "Oral Argument - Audio," argued January 13, 2025 ]
    8. ↑ [https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/2024/23-1002_o7jp.pdf Supreme Court of the United States, "Oral Argument - Transcript," argued January 13, 2025 ]
    9. ↑ SupremeCourt.gov, "The Supreme Court at Work: The Term and Caseload," accessed January 24, 2022
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