Rutherford v. United States · ¶93

A compassionate-release proceeding, in which a court decides whether to reduce a defendant's sentence (and if so, by how much), is obviously a sentence-modification proceeding. Changes in law are also plainly relevant to a court's determination: The fact that a defendant would be eligible for a significantly lower sentence for the same conduct today due to a change in law undoubtedly could inform a court's decision as to whether it should reduce his sentence. Allowing courts to consider this information, then, is consistent with courts' traditional discretion.

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