Hewitt v. United States

Decided June 26, 2025. Ketanji Brown Jackson delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 23-1002 · 606 U.S. 419 (2025) · Cited 30 times

Holding

Because a sentence “has . . . been imposed” for purposes of §403(b) of the First Step Act only if the sentence is extant (i.e., has not been vacated), the Act’s more lenient penalties apply to defendants whose previous 18 U. S. C. §924(c) sentences have been vacated and who need to be resentenced following the Act’s enactment; the judgment of the Fifth Circuit is reversed and the case is remanded.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court. Read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 5–4.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. The lineup is the syllabus’s disposition of who wrote and joined each opinion. Source: the opinion’s syllabus (supremecourt.gov).

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Lewis v. United States · 445 U.S. 55 (1980)
• Dorsey v. United States · 567 U.S. 260 (2012)
• Bond v. United States · 572 U.S. 844 (2014)
• North Carolina v. Pearce · 395 U.S. 711 (1969)
• Greenlaw v. United States · 554 U.S. 237 (2008)
• Pepper v. United States · 562 U.S. 476 (2011)
• Deal v. United States · 508 U.S. 129 (1993)
• Carr v. United States · 560 U.S. 438 (2010)
• Gregg v. Georgia · 428 U.S. 153 (1976)
• Staples v. United States · 511 U.S. 600 (1994)
• Whitman v. American Trucking Assns., Inc. · 531 U.S. 457 (2001)
• United States v. Wilson · 503 U.S. 329 (1992)
• United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co. · 200 U.S. 321 (1906)
• Swarthout v. Cooke · 562 U.S. 216 (2011)
• Agency Holding Corp. v. Malley-Duff & Associates, Inc. · 483 U.S. 143 (1987)
• Gwaltney of Smithfield, Ltd. v. Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Inc. · 484 U.S. 49 (1987)
• American Express Co. v. Italian Colors Restaurant · 570 U.S. 228 (2013)
• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Arabian American Oil Co. · 499 U.S. 244 (1991)
• Marx v. General Revenue Corp. · 568 U.S. 371 (2013)
• Pollard v. United States · 352 U.S. 354 (1957)
• Rodriguez v. United States · 480 U.S. 522 (1987)
• Miller v. French · 530 U.S. 327 (2000)
• Fiswick v. United States · 329 U.S. 211 (1946)
• Richmond v. Lewis · 506 U.S. 40 (1992)
• Barrett v. United States · 423 U.S. 212 (1976)
• Stewart v. Dutra Construction Co. · 543 U.S. 481 (2005)
• Lott v. United States · 367 U.S. 421 (1961)
• Coinbase, Inc. v. Bielski · 599 U.S. 736 (2023)
• Dubin v. United States · 599 U.S. 110 (2023)
• Pulsifer v. United States · 601 U.S. 124 (2024)

Official text

Read the official opinion (PDF, supremecourt.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2025). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-08-15. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).