Reviewing the still uncertain state, and the still certain need, for effective federal crack retroactivity resentencing I have not been able to keep up with all of the jurisprudential ups and downs that have followed the FIRST STEP Act finally making retroactive key parts of the Fair Sentencing Act for federal crack offenders. Thus, I am quite grateful that a recent email discussion with various lawyers led to Assistant Federal Defenders Johanes Maliza and Thomas Drysdale drafting this extended guest post to catch us all up on some critical cases and issues in this arena: The sentencing excesses that Congress addressed with the Fair Sentencing Act, and then the First Step Act, should stay in the past. The pending cert petition in