In an early setback for the Biden Justice Department’s reform agenda, the Supreme Court on Monday unanimously held that low-level crack cocaine offenders aren’t …
In an early setback for the Biden Justice Department’s reform agenda, the Supreme Court on Monday unanimously held that low-level crack cocaine offenders aren’t eligible for lighter sentences under the 2018 First Step Act. The decision came after Biden appointees at the Justice Department broke with their Trump-appointed predecessors to back small-time drug defendants seeking re-sentencing. Justice Clarence Thomas delivered the majority opinion that eight justices joined in full, a stark rejoinder to the government’s reversal. The First Step Act made offenders convicted before 2010 of possessing large amounts of crack eligible for new, lessened sentences. Consistent with its criminal justice reform goals, the Biden Justice Department argued in Monday’s case that the First Step Act also covers low-level offenders. The verdict could impact several hundred federal offenders who were convicted before 2010 of possessing a small quantity of crack cocaine. The Trump Justice Department initially argued that small-time convicts were not eligible for relief under the First Step Act. The Supreme Court agreed to weigh in on that issue on Jan.8. Once Biden took office and installed new leadership at the Department of Justice, the department flipped positions and backed defendants seeking a lighter sentence under the act. The department notified the Court of its change one month before the argument—prompting a rare change to the Court’s schedule—on the same day it was due to submit its main legal brief.
