Rutherford v. United States

Consolidated with:

Carter v. United States

Docket No.	Op. Below	Argument	Opinion	Vote	Author	Term
24-820	3rd Cir.	Nov 12, 2025	TBD	TBD	TBD	OT 2025

Issue: Whether a district court may consider disparities created by the First Step Act’s prospective changes in sentencing law when deciding if “extraordinary and compelling reasons” warrant a sentence reduction under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A)(i).

SCOTUSblog Coverage

Supreme Court announces when it will hear oral argument in several important cases (Amy Howe, August 12, 2025)
Mission Creep Watch: A non-relisted case the Supreme Court might grant (John Elwood, June 10, 2025)
Supreme Court adds four new cases to 2025-26 docket (Amy Howe, June 6, 2025)
Compassionate release, election rules, and procedural puzzles (John Elwood, June 4, 2025)

Date	Proceedings and Orders (key to color coding)
01/30/2025	Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due March 5, 2025)
02/21/2025	Brief amicus curiae of Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM) filed.
02/26/2025	Motion to extend the time to file a response from March 5, 2025 to April 4, 2025, submitted to The Clerk.
02/27/2025	Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including April 4, 2025.
02/28/2025	Brief amici curiae of Clinical Law Professors filed.
03/05/2025	Brief amici curiae of Former Bureau of Prisons Officials filed.
03/05/2025	Brief amici curiae of Former Federal Judges filed.
04/02/2025	Motion to extend the time to file a response from April 4, 2025 to May 5, 2025, submitted to The Clerk.
04/03/2025	Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including May 5, 2025.
05/05/2025	Brief for the United states filed.
05/12/2025	Waiver of the 14-day waiting period for the distribution of the petition pursuant to Rule 15.5 filed by petitioner.
05/13/2025	DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/29/2025.
05/13/2025	Reply of petitioner Daniel Rutherford filed. (Distributed)
06/02/2025	DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/5/2025.
06/06/2025	Petition GRANTED. The petition for a writ of certiorari in No. 24-860 is granted. The cases are consolidated, and a total of one hour is allotted for oral argument. VIDED.
06/06/2025	Because the Court has consolidated these cases for briefing and oral argument, future filings and activity in the cases will now be reflected on the docket of No. 24-820. Subsequent filings in these cases must therefore be submitted through the electronic filing system in No. 24-820. Each document submitted in connection with one or more of these cases must include on its cover the case number and caption for each case in which the filing is intended to be submitted. Where a filing is submitted in fewer than all of the cases, the docket entry will reflect the case number(s) in which the filing is submitted; a document filed in all of the consolidated cases will be noted as “VIDED.”
06/20/2025	Motion for an extension of time within which to file the briefs on the merits in No. 24-820 and No. 24-860 filed (also as to No. 24-556). VIDED.
06/30/2025	Motion to extend the time to file the briefs on the merits as to No. 24-820 and No. 24-860 granted. The time to file the joint appendix and petitioners' briefs on the merits is extended to and including August 8, 2025. The time to file respondent's brief on the merits is extended to and including September 25, 2025. VIDED.
07/07/2025	Motion to dispense with printing the joint appendix filed by petitioner (as to 24-820).
07/08/2025	Motion to dispense with printing the joint appendix filed by petitioner (as to 24-860).
08/08/2025	Brief of petitioner Daniel Rutherford filed (as to 24-820).
08/08/2025	Brief of petitioner Johnnie Markel Carter filed (as to 24-860).
08/12/2025	SET FOR ARGUMENT on Wednesday, November 12, 2025.
08/14/2025	Brief amici curiae of Former Bureau of Prisons Officials filed. VIDED.
08/15/2025	Brief amici curiae of NAACP, et al. filed. VIDED.
08/15/2025	Brief amici curiae of Senator Cory Booker, et al. filed. VIDED.
08/15/2025	Brief amicus curiae of Constitutional Accountability Center filed. VIDED.
08/15/2025	Brief amici curiae of Former Commissioners of the United States Sentencing Commission in support of neither party filed. VIDED.
08/15/2025	Brief amici curiae of Clinical Law Professors filed. VIDED.
08/15/2025	Brief amici curiae of Cato Institute, et al. filed. VIDED.
08/15/2025	Brief amici curiae of Former Federal Judges filed (as to 24-820).
08/15/2025	Brief amicus curiae of Professor Douglas Berman filed. VIDED.
08/15/2025	Brief amicus curiae of National Association of Federal Defenders filed. VIDED.
08/15/2025	Brief amicus curiae of New York Council of Defense Lawyers (NYCDL) filed. VIDED.
08/15/2025	Brief amici curiae of Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM), et al. filed. VIDED.
08/15/2025	Amicus brief of FORTUNE SOCIETY submitted.
08/18/2025	Motion to dispense with printing the joint appendix filed by petitioner Daniel Rutherford GRANTED.
08/18/2025	Motion to dispense with printing the joint appendix filed by petitioner Johnnie Markel Carter GRANTED.