Major Eleventh Circuit ruling on reach of crack retroactivity

The Eleventh Circuit today in US v. Moore, No. 08-11230 (11th Cir. Sept. 5, 2008) (available here), has the first major circuit ruling about the reach of the retroactive crack guidelines.  Here is how the decision starts:

In this consolidated appeal, Gary Moore, Ralph Edward Wester, Theodora Lawton, Clarence Collins, and Keith Maurice McFadden (“defendants”) appeal separate district court decisions denying their motions for reduced sentences under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2). The defendants’ motions were all based on Amendment 706 to the Sentencing Guidelines, which, together with Amendment 713, retroactively reduced the base offense levels applicable to crack cocaine offenses.  The district courts denied their motions on the ground that, because the defendants were sentenced as career offenders under U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1, Amendment 706 did not have the effect of lowering their applicable guideline ranges. We affirm.