Case Summary:

Rutherford v. United States arises from Daniel Rutherford’s federal convictions for two Hobbs Act robberies and two associated firearm counts under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c), for which the district court imposed a total prison term of about 42½ years, including a “stacked” 32‑year mandatory minimum on the firearm counts (7 years for the first, 25 years for the second) plus 125 months on the robbery counts. After the First Step Act later eliminated this kind of stacking for defendants sentenced after its enactment, so that Rutherford would now face a 14‑year rather than 32‑year mandatory minimum on the same firearm conduct, he repeatedly moved in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania for compassionate release based on the large disparity between his sentence and those imposed under current law, but the district court and the Third Circ ...