Judges to review sentences for bank robbers dubbed ‘scarecrow bandits’

The U.S. Supreme Court will consider in the next quarter the lengthy sentences handed down to Dallas-area bank robbers known as the “scarecrow bandits” to determine whether they are eligible for the federal First Step Act’s sentence-relief provisions after earlier sentences were overturned.

The court granted certiorari, or review, Tuesday in Hewitt v. United States And Duffey v. United Statesinvolving the fight by convicted bank robbers to get reduced sentences under the landmark 2018 criminal justice reform law. The high court will decide whether a defendant convicted and sentenced before the First Step Act, but re-sentenced after the criminal justice reform law came into force, is eligible for its sentence-reduction provisions.