Jacob Sullum reports:

  Today the U.S. Sentencing Commission decided to retroactively apply recent guideline changes that shrank the disparity between crack and cocaine powder. That means crack offenders sentenced prior to November 1, when the changes took effect, can apply for resentencing. Families Against Mandatory Minimums says retroactivity applies to nearly 20,000 prisoners, about 2,250 of whom could be eligible for release within a year.
  Neither the Supreme Court ruling nor the sentencing commission's decision affects the five- and 10-year statutory mandatory minimums for crack offenses. . . .

  You may be thinking, "wait, how can they do this?" The statutory authority is provided by 18 U.S.C. 3582(c)(2):

The court may not modify a term of imprisonment once it has been imposed except that . . . in the case of a defendant who has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment based on a sentencing range that has subsequently been lowered by the Sentencing Commission pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 994 (o), upon motion of the defendant or the Director of the Bureau of Prisons, or on its own motion, the court may reduce the term of imprisonment, after considering the factors set forth in section 3553 (a) to the extent that they are applicable, if such a reduction is consistent with applicable policy statements issued by the Sentencing Commission.

  As one commenter said yesterday, in light of Kimbrough, "Man, did I start my crack habit at the right time or what!"