Modifying Federal Sentences

Federal law, 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c), provides a limited authority for a federal judge to modify a previously imposed term of imprisonment. One of the grounds, in subparagraph (1)(A), is that “extraordinary and compelling reasons warrant such a reduction.” Today the U.S. Supreme Court took up the case of Fernandez v. United States, No. 24-556, to decide if reasons that would support a motion to vacate a sentence constitute grounds for a 3582(c)(1)(A) modification. The motion-to-vacate statute, 28 U.S.C. § 2255, is Congress’s substitute for habeas corpus for federal prisoners.

Reconsidering the numerous pseudo-constitutional rules invented by the court in earlier years without a trace of basis in the text or history of the Constitution apparently remains off the high court’s agenda for criminal law, in contrast to the court’s willingness to do so in other areas. Instead, the court occupies itself with filling in details like this.