On June 27, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Williams & Connolly client Carlos Concepcion, who was seeking to reduce his prison term under the First Step Act, the 2018 criminal-justice reform bill. The Court held that district judges may consider intervening changes of law or fact in exercising their discretion to reduce a prison sentence pursuant to the First Step Act. Partner Luke McCloud argued the case on January 19, 2022, marking his first argument before the Court. Other members of the team included Lisa Blatt, Benjamin Hazelwood, Alex Ussia, Danielle Sochaczevski, and Aaron Roper of Williams & Connolly, and Martin Richey of the Massachusetts Federal Public Defender. The argument was covered by Bloomberg Law and The National Law Journal’s Supreme Court Brief series, both noting that Luke is one of only a small number of African-American lawyers in private practice to argue before the Court.
Click here to read the Supreme Court’s opinion; click here to read coverage by Law360.