U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C. Sept. 30, 2022. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM Supreme Court to Hear Case With Lot of 'Buts' and 'Ifs' Over Meaning of 'And'
Federal courts across the country disagree about whether the word, as it is used in a bipartisan 2018 criminal justice overhaul, indeed means "and" or whether it means "or." Even an appellate panel that upheld a longer sentence called the structure of the provision "perplexing."
September 25, 2023 at 04:53 PM
5 minute read
It's hard to imagine a less contentious or more innocent word than "and."
But how to interpret that simple conjunction has prompted a complicated legal fight that lands in the U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 2, the first day of its new term. What the justices decide could affect thousands of prison sentences each year.
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