Latest Updates
Federal Relief & Sentencing Updates
Federal sentencing updates covering appellate decisions, compassionate release developments, Bureau of Prisons issues, Supreme Court activity, and post-conviction litigation affecting federal relief considerations.
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Federal Firearm Rights Restoration in 2026: § 925(c) Applications, Gun Cases & First Step Act Changes – September 21-25, 2026
Federal firearm rights restoration is moving forward under 18 U.S.C. § 925(c), with DOJ beginning its first application phase in September 2026. This week’s APEX update also covers § 922(g)(1) challenges, First Step Act credit changes, compassionate release, and appellate waivers.
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Retroactive Guideline Amendments & Federal Sentence Reduction – September 14-18, 2026
Retroactive Guideline amendments have resulted in more than 10,000 federal sentence reductions. This week’s APEX update examines the latest 2026 data, compassionate release restrictions, appellate waivers, Brady violations, jury-instruction errors, and major Supreme Court cases ahead.
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Can a Federal Sentence Be Reduced? § 2255 & Sentencing Errors – September 7-11,2026
Federal sentence reduction may be available in some cases involving § 2255 relief, Career Offender errors, ineffective assistance of counsel, Sentencing Guidelines mistakes, illegal searches, compassionate release, and other federal post-conviction issues. This APEX Federal Relief update reviews recent appellate decisions and explains why careful review of the individual case record matters.
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Federal Criminal Law Update: BOP Changes & Major Appellate Relief: — August 31-September 4, 2026
September 2026 federal criminal law update covering BOP leadership changes, Amendment 821 relief, sentencing enhancements, prior convictions used as federal predicates, and major appellate decisions from the Sixth, Eighth, and Ninth Circuits.
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Federal Relief & Sentencing Developments — August 24–28, 2026
Federal developments for August 24–28, 2026 include new Sentencing Commission priorities, federal firearm-rights restoration, § 922(g)(1) litigation, and major appellate rulings involving Guidelines errors, unsupported sentencing facts, crime-of-violence predicates, acceptance of responsibility, and jury instructions.
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Federal Relief & Sentencing Developments — August 17–21, 2026
August 2026 federal First Step Act, firearm-rights, § 2255, and restitution update covering Maxwell § 2241 litigation, BOP staffing and program concerns, Sentencing Commission priorities, DOJ firearm-rights restoration under § 925(c), Flood § 2255 hearing standards, Ellingburg restitution/ex post facto review, and federal case-screening considerations.
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Federal Relief & Sentencing Developments — August 10–14, 2026
August 2026 federal First Step Act, Guideline, and sentencing update covering GAO concerns about BOP earned time credit application, 2026 Sentencing Guideline amendments, compassionate release after Fernandez and Rutherford, disputed venue in Cooper, state conspiracy crime-of-violence review, supervised-release community-service conditions, and federal case-screening considerations.
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Federal Relief & Sentencing Developments — August 3–7, 2026
Federal developments for August 3–7, 2026 include Supreme Court review of §922(g)(1) and Sentencing Guidelines commentary, appeal-waiver limits after Hunter, jury coercion, vague supervised-release conditions, and firearm sentencing cross-references.
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Federal Relief & Sentencing Developments — July 27–31, 2026
July 2026 Federal ACCA Firearm Sentencing Developments covering Jouppi forfeiture review, § 922(g) challenges, Melvin ACCA resentencing, Murphy firearm cross-reference limits, Smith mitigating role, Lopez crime-of-violence review, clemency, and federal case screening.
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Federal Relief & Sentencing Developments — July 20–24, 2026
July 2026 federal jury, sentencing, and appeal update covering Jones promotional money-laundering relief, Bridges conspiracy object-offense sentencing findings, Carter late criminal appeal protections, Colar juror-bias reversal, acquitted-conduct guideline concerns, compassionate release, and federal case-screening considerations.