Counting uninvolved people in sentencing
Miller v. United States
In brief
- Where it stands
- Petition Pending
Awaiting an order on the petition
- What it’s about
- Christopher Miller asks the Supreme Court to review whether sentencing courts may count people who were unaware of a crime or did not participate when deciding whether criminal activity was “otherwise extensive” under a federal sentencing guideline.
- What's at stake
- The unresolved issue concerns how sentencing courts apply the guideline’s “otherwise extensive” test to people who did not know of or participate in the criminal activity.
Summary: written with AI from the case record.
What it's about
His petition was distributed for a conference, but that step is not a decision to hear the case.
The federal sentencing guideline at issue uses the phrase “otherwise extensive”; Miller challenges an application note that tells courts whom to count in applying that test.
Question presented
WHETHER THE THIRD CIRCUIT ERRED IN HOLDING THAT APPLICATION NOTE 3 OF U.S.S.G. § 3B1.1 DOES NOT IMPROPERLY EXPAND THE GUIDELINE BEYOND THE OUTER BOUNDS OF PERMISSIBLE INTERPRETATION BY DIRECTING COURTS TO COUNT UNKNOWING OUTSIDERS AND NON-PARTICIPANTS WHEN DETERMINING WHETHER CRIMINAL ACTIVITY WAS “OTHERWISE EXTENSIVE” WITHIN THE MEANING OF THE GUIDELINE?
What happens next
The Court must decide whether to hear the petition. It was distributed for the Nov. 6, 2026, conference, but that does not guarantee a decision on that date; no oral argument or decision date is set.
Documents
Docket activity
New analysis added
AI analysis generated: Case Briefing
Case data updated: question_presented, extraction_metadata
Case data updated: summary, question_presented, generation_metadata
Brief added: Petition
Sources
Primary materials plus reporting. Best-effort analysis: this explainer relies on a mix of primary materials and trusted secondary sources. Official filings and opinions remain authoritative.