A district judge may consider the crack/powder disparity when sentencing crack offenders, and impose a below-Guidelines sentence if it determines that a within-Guidelines sentence is "greater than necessary" to serve the objectives of sentencing.

Gall v. U.S., 552 U.S. ___, 128 S.Ct. 565 (Dec. 10, 2007) (Justice Stevens)
Kimbrough v. ...

For a summary of this decision, see "2nd Circuit Gives Narrow Reading to Causes of 'Ineffective Assistance'," by Mark Hamblett, New York Law Journal, Sept. 17, 2007, as follows:

"The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has again declined to expand the small universe of situations where attorney conduct at ...

Gall v. U.S., 552 U.S. ___, 128 S.Ct. 565 (Dec. 10, 2007) (Justice Stevens)
Kimbrough v. U.S., 552 U.S. ___, 128 S.Ct. 558 (Dec. 10, 2007) (Justice Ginsburg)

Generally

It is not difficult to understand why so many people are excited about the Supreme Court’s twin decisions on the Sentencing ...

In Smith v. United States, 508 U. S. 223 (1993), the Supreme Court held, by a vote of 6-to-3, that “a criminal who trades his firearm for drugs ‘uses’ it during and in relation to a drug trafficking offense within the meaning of §924(c)(1)” and thus was eligible for the ...

For a summary of this decision, see "Haitians Facing Prison After Deportation Cannot Cite Torture as Defense to Stay," by Mark Hamblett, as published in the New York Law Journal on September 12, 2007, as follows:

"Haitians who face imprisonment under "awful" conditions if forced to return to their homeland ...