Vargas v. United States

Background

Nelson Vargas filed a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, a procedure allowing a federal prisoner to challenge a sentence. He argued that his 1991 sentence should be overturned because the mandatory career-offender sentencing guideline contained an unconstitutionally vague “residual clause” defining a crime of violence. The petition was filed within one year after the Supreme Court held that an identical residual clause in a federal statute was unconstitutionally vague in Johnson v. United States.

Effect of the Second Circuit’s Decision

The Second Circuit later held in a related proceeding that a petition challenging a sentence imposed under the mandatory sentencing guidelines based on Johnson was untimely, even when filed within one year of Johnson. After the Supreme Court declined to review that decision, the court instructed Vargas to address whether his petition should be withdrawn or summarily dismissed. The opinion also states that Vargas was released from incarceration on December 8, 2020.

Order

The court did not itself withdraw or dismiss Vargas’s petition in this order. Judge Valerie Caproni ordered Vargas to file a letter no later than May 14, 2021, explaining whether there was any reason his petition should not be withdrawn or summarily dismissed in light of the Second Circuit’s decision. The United States must file a response by May 28, 2021, if necessary.