2nd Cir. Overturns Sentencing Precedent

The Second Circuit ruled that criminal defendants have a right to be present in court when post-release conditions are imposed, overturning its nearly three-decade old precedent and ending a circuit split.

The federal appellate court’s 1999 decision that such conditions could be imposed outside a defendant’s presence “is now a clear outlier,” Judge Sarah A.L. Merriam said Thursday for the majority of the en banc court.

The 1999 ruling had created a 9-1 split among federal appellate courts, with right-leaning circuits like the Fifth and more left-leaning courts like the Ninth finding defendants have a constitutional right to be ...