The Supreme Court v. The First Step Act
6/16/202641 min
In two cases this term, federal inmates sought their freedom based on compassionate release, an early release process that was expanded under the 2018 First Step Act. The Supreme Court denied both requests.
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5-4 is presented by Prologue Projects. This episode was produced by Alli Rodgers. Leon Neyfakh provides editorial support. Our website was designed by Peter Murphy. Our artwork is by Teddy Blanks at Chips NY, and our theme song is by Spatial Relations. Transcriptions of each episode are available at fivefourpod.com
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsPeter Shamshiri· Host0:00
[upbeat music] Hey, everyone. This is Leon from Prologue Projects. On this week's episode of Five to Four, Peter, Rhiannon, and Michael are talking about not one, but two cases: Fernandez v. United States and Rutherford v. United States. Both cases center on one of the few legislative achievements of Trump's first term, the First Step Act, which was signed into law in 2018 with broad bipartisan support and was considered a long overdue effort to reform the criminal justice system. One of the many changes the law brought about was the expansion of compassionate release for people serving time in federal prison. As you'll hear, the Supreme Court intervened when it heard cases from two such individuals who had thought the new law gave them an opening to win their freedom. In a move that effectively kneecapped a reform effort supported by both parties and pushed by the president, the Supreme Court denied compassionate release to both plaintiffs. This is Five to Four, a podcast about how much the Supreme Court sucks. [upbeat music] Welcome to Five to Four, where we dissect and analyze the Supreme Court cases that have caused our civil rights to go missing, like the representative from New Jersey's 7th District. I'm Peter. I'm here with Rhiannon- Hey ... and Michael.
Michael Liroff· Host1:19
Have they found that guy yet? Is he- They have not found him.
Rhiannon Hamam· Host1:24
Where in the world is that New Jersey rep?
Peter Shamshiri· Host1:27
[laughs] For anyone who's not following