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SCOTUS considers crack sentence reduction authority and reverses another Ninth Circuit habeas decision

By Douglas A. Berman

Today's Supreme Court action includes some criminal justice work that ought to interest sentencing fans.  This morning brings oral argument in Freeman v. US, which concerns eligibility for a sentence reduction under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) when as sentence was imposed pursuant to a Rule 11(c)(1)(C) plea agreement (SCOTUSblog coverage here).  This new article in the Louisville Courier-Journal, headlined "US Supreme Court to consider Louisville man's crack-cocaine sentence," provides effective background on the case. In addition, the Justices handed down a unanimous opinion in the habeas case Walker v. Martin (available here).  Here is how Justice Ginsburg's opinion for the Court starts and ends: This case concerns California?s time limitation on applications for postconviction (habeas corpus) relief...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on February 23, 2011 (boomark / email).