Supreme Court's interpretation of the word "and" could affect thousands of prison sentences each year

It's hard to imagine a less contentious or more innocent word than "and."

But how to interpret that simple conjunction has prompted a complicated legal fight that lands in the Supreme Court on Oct. 2, the first day of its new term. What the justices decide could affect thousands of prison sentences each year.

Federal courts across the country disagree about whether the word, as it is used in a bipartisan 2018 criminal justice overhaul, indeed means "and" or whether it means "or." Even an appellate panel that upheld a longer sentence called the structure of the provision "perplexing."