Esteras v. United States

Esteras v. United States
Decided June 20, 2025
Full case nameEsteras v. United States
Docket no.23-7483
Citations606 U.S. ___ (more)
Holding
A district court considering whether to revoke a defendant’s term of supervised release may not consider §3553(a)(2)(A), which covers retribution vis-à-vis the defendant's underlying criminal offense.
Court membership
Chief Justice
John Roberts
Associate Justices
Clarence Thomas · Samuel Alito
Sonia Sotomayor · Elena Kagan
Neil Gorsuch · Brett Kavanaugh
Amy Coney Barrett · Ketanji Brown Jackson
Case opinions
MajorityBarrett, joined by Roberts, Thomas, Kagan, Kavanaugh; Sotomayor, Jackson (except part II-B)
ConcurrenceSotomayor (in part), joined by Jackson
ConcurrenceJackson (in part)
DissentAlito, joined by Gorsuch
Laws applied
18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(2)(A)

Esteras v. United States, 606 U.S. ___ (2025), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the court held that a district court considering whether to revoke a defendant's term of supervised release may not consider 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(2)(A), which covers retribution vis-à-vis the defendant’s underlying criminal offense.[1][2]

Background

Edgardo Esteras pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute heroin, and the district court sentenced him to 12 months in prison followed by a 6-year term of supervised release. While on supervised release, Esteras was arrested and charged with domestic violence and other crimes. The district court revoked Esteras’s supervised release and ordered 24 months of reimprisonment, explaining that Esteras's earlier sentence had been "rather lenient" and that his revocation sentence must "promote respect for the law," a consideration enumerated in §3553(a)(2)(A). The Sixth Circuit affirmed, holding that a district court may consider §3553(a)(2)(A) when revoking supervised release.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b Esteras v. United States, No. 23-7483, 606 U.S. ___ (2025).
  2. ^ "Additional opinions from Friday, June 20". SCOTUSblog. June 20, 2025. Retrieved July 5, 2025.
  • Text of Esteras v. United States, No. 23-7483, 606 U.S. ___ (2025) is available from: Justia

This article incorporates written opinion of a United States federal court. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the text is in the public domain.