The U.S. Sentencing Commission has ruled that recent changes to the federal sentencing guidelines for crack-cocaine offenses will be applied retroactively, meaning that up to 20,000 current prisoners may be able to apply for early release, USA Today reported Dec. 12.

The commission previously voted to reduce the disparity between crack-cocaine penalties and the penalties for offenses involving the powdered version of the drug; that change went into effect Nov. 1. In its latest action, the panel defied the Bush administration and voted unanimously to apply the lower crack sentences to offenders currently serving time.

"Not every crack cocaine offender will be eligible for a lower sentence under the decision," the commission noted. "A federal sentencing judge will make the final determination."

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said that, "Applying this fix retroactively is only fair and just." But the Bush administration's active deputy attorney general, Craig Morford, said the decision "will make thousands of dangerous prisoners, many of them violent gang members, eligible for immediate release. These offenders are among the most serious and violent offenders in the federal system."