Rutherford v. United States · ¶66

In the wake of the First Step Act, the United States Sentencing Commission in 2023 adopted § 1B1.13(b)(6), a policy statement allowing courts, in limited circumstances, to consider sentencing disparities created by nonretroactive changes in law. Specifically, courts may grant relief based on such a change in law only when four requirements are met: (1) the defendant received an “unusually long sentence”; (2) the defendant has served at least 10 years of that sentence; (3) the disparity is “gross”; and (4) the district court has taken “full consideration of the defendant's individualized circumstances.” USSG § 1B1.13(b)(6) (Nov. 2025). Outside of those circumstances, “a change in the law . . . shall not be considered” for purposes of determining whether an “extraordinary and compelling reason exists” to reduce the sentence. § 1B1.13(c).

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