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24-556
Supreme Court
The U.S. Supreme Court held Thursday that judges lack wide discretion to pare down sentences for criminal defendants under the First Step Act based on questions about the validity of a conviction, shutting the door on a potential wave of postconviction relief petitions, experts said.
The U.S. Supreme Court raised concerns Wednesday about spurring a flood of compassionate release motions from prisoners if it allows judges to have wide discretion to find "extraordinary and compelling reasons" to pare down sentences for criminal defendants under the First Step Act.
The U.S. Supreme Court will return Monday for a short week of arguments, in which the justices will consider whether state and local government officials can be held personally liable for alleged religious rights violations, and whether government contractors are entitled to immediately appeal denials of derivative sovereign immunity.
A slate of upcoming arguments will offer the U.S. Supreme Court the opportunity to weigh criminal defendants' ability to pursue claims of double jeopardy, secure sentencing relief and confer with trial counsel during overnight pauses in their testimony.
The U.S. Supreme Court's docket is packed with cases that hinge on issues of criminal law, teeing up a term that could affect the U.S. Sentencing Commission's powers and clarify where the justices stand on procedural and constitutional questions of criminal law, experts say.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear arguments in a case that could determine how much discretion trial judges have when considering whether to reduce defendants' sentences under the First Step Act.