Federal Jurisdiction: United States v. Key

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U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

Federal Jurisdiction

Case or Controversy Requirement

United States v. Key
08-3218-cr
Appealed from the Southern District of New York

Background: The court addresses in this case one circumstance in which an appellate challenge to a criminal sentence has been rendered moot by a defendant’s release from custody. Defendant appeals from a June 13, 2008 order of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York denying a motion for a reduction of sentence under 18 U.S.C. §3582(c)(2). Since the district court entered its order, defendant has been released from prison.

Ruling: The court holds that, even if it were to reverse the district court’s denial of defendant’s motion for a reduction of sentence, the possibility that the district court would, on remand, terminate defendant’s supervised release under 18 U.S.C. §3583(e)(1) is too “remote and speculative” to “satisf[y] the case-or-controversy requirement of Article III, Section 2 of the Constitution.” Therefore, the court dismisses this appeal as moot.

Colleen P. Cassidy, of Federal Defenders of New York, Inc., for the appellant and Nicholas J. Lewin, assistant U.S. attorney, for the appellee