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Vickiel Vincent Vaughn v. United States

IFP petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, No. 25-50136 · judgment April 24, 2026


Certiorari denied · October 5, 2026

Question presented

When determining whether to impose supervised release and the length of that term, a district court may not consider the retributive factors identified in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(2)(A) and Esteras v. United States, 145 S.Ct. 2031 (2025). The question presented is as follows: Whether a district court actually relies on § 3553(a)(2)(A), at least by unmistakable implication, when it expressly invokes those factors in an undifferentiated explanation immediately before imposing imprisonment and supervised release, without limiting the factors to imprisonment?

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Joseph Jeff Ostini
National Defense Law

For respondent
D. John Sauer
Solicitor General

Case

Subject area
Criminal Procedure (estimated from the questions presented, in the Supreme Court Database’s categories)

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Order
Order list, October 5, 2026 · Certiorari denied

Proceedings

  1. Oct 05 2026
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Aug 13 2026
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/28/2026.
  3. Aug 11 2026
    Waiver of right of respondent United States to respond filed.
  4. Jul 23 2026
    Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due August 28, 2026)