⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

The Ninth Circuit hears Victor Grandy's appeal over ending federal supervision early. In the early nineteen nineties, Grandy was convicted in a crack-cocaine distribution case, and the Ninth Circuit upheld his life sentence. He left prison in twenty nineteen after nearly three decades and now works as an artist known as L.W.D. He says he has spent more than seven years under supervised release without a violation. Supervised release is court-ordered monitoring after prison; federal law lets a judge end it after one year when the person's conduct and the interests of justice warrant it. Grandy asked for that relief, but the district judge refused. He says the judge relied on mistaken recidivism figures, meaning statistics about reoffending, from a study neither side had cited. The government now agrees the judge had authority to end supervision, but says the denial can stand. Alex Botoman, a Los Angeles federal public defender, will argue first for Grandy.

United States v. Victor Grandy (No. 25-4491) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, argued September 14, 2026.