The U.S. Supreme Court just issued a new decision which expands your and my right to appeal

a federal prison sentence.

Now, I'm sure most people watching this won't ever become a federal prisoner, but if you

or someone you know does, they will now have more rights given the fact that the U.S. Supreme

Court just threw out a significant limit on federal prisoner appeals.

Let's go through the details of this case together, beginning with the details of the case in question.

Back in the year 2008, a Florida man named Michael Bowie participated in an armed robbery of an armored car in Palm Beach County. He was caught,

he was indicted, and he wound up pleading guilty to three separate offenses. Firstly, he pled

guilty to conspiracy to commit a robbery under the Hobbs Act. Secondly, he pled guilty to actually

committing the robbery under the Hobbs Act. And thirdly, he pled guilty to actually committing the robbery under the Hobbs Act. And thirdly,

he pled guilty to using, carrying, brandishing, or discharging a firearm during and in relation

to a quote-unquote crime of violence. Now, the first two offenses, conspiracy to commit robbery,

as well as attempting to commit the actual robbery, fell under the

Hobbs Act. For your reference, the Hobbs Act is a federal statute which prohibits actual or

attempted robbery, which affects interstate commerce. However, the third offense fell under a different

federal law. The third offense, which was, again, using, carrying, brandishing, and or discharging a firearm

in relation to a violent crime fell under Section 924 C1D2 of Title 18.

And this distinction matters for two reasons.

Firstly, because of that other law, what Mr. Bowie did was classified as a crime of violence,

and it automatically added 10 years to his sentence. And so, in total, Mr. Bowie was sentenced

to 24 years behind bars. Fourteen of those years came in relation to the Hobbs Act's crime,

which were robbery and conspiracy, while the other 10 years came because it was designated

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