Supreme Court rules to uphold mandatory prison sentences for low-level drug dealers

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on Friday that not all low-level drug dealers are eligible for shorter prison sentences, ruling against a convicted dealer who sought a lesser sentence using a 2018 law. 

The higher court took up the case of a convicted drug dealer from Iowa, Mark Pulsifer, who sought a shorter sentence under the 2018 First Step Act. 

Pulsifer was convicted of distributing 50 grams of methamphetamine, according to ABC News. 

Justice Elena Kagan wrote in her opinion that Pulsifer had not met the requirements necessary for a shorter sentence.

Congress “did not extend safety-valve relief to all defendants, but only to some,” Kagan wrote in her opinion, according to NBC News.

Justice Neil Gorsuch dissented, arguing the court limited the goal of the 2018 law. 

"Adopting the government's preferred interpretation guarantees that thousands more people in the federal justice system will be denied a chance — just a chance — at an individualized sentence. For them, the First Step Act offers no hope," he wrote in his opinion.