The Supreme Court took up a subtle question about who gets the benefit of newer, lighter penalties under a law called the First Step Act. The question wasn’t a big headline grabber—it was about whether a prison term counts as “imposed” if a judge later wiped it away. By limiting retroactivity to those without valid sentences on the Act’s effective date, Congress balanced the general presumption against retroactivity, the interest in finality of judgments, and the bipartisan goal of ending disproportionate “stacking” of firearm sentences that had resulted in extreme prison terms.

music for the podcast provided by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Dimitry Taras