If a federal bill reduces a sentence for a crime, can a prisoner get relief at the state level?
<p>If a federal bill reduces a sentence for a crime, can a prisoner get relief at the state level, possibly by stating the original sentence was cruel and unusual punishment?</p>

<p>No. Federal criminal law doesn't control what state criminal sentences are, and Congress does not have the power to define what counts as "cruel and unusual" at the state level. It is quite common for federal sentences to be different from state ones.</p>

criminal-law human-rights us-constitution