We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
ONE STEP FORWARD: COMPASSIONATE RELEASE UNDER THE FIRST STEP ACT.
- Authors
DOERING, MICHAEL
- Abstract
The federal compassionate release statute allows federal sentencing courts to reduce criminal sentences if "extraordinary and compelling" reasons warrant such reductions. Courts evaluating compassionate release motions must also consider whether the penal goals of punishment would support release of any particular prisoner and whether a sentence reduction would be consistent with the Sentencing Commission's policy statements on compassionate release. Historically, the compassionate release statute vested authority to file compassionate release motions solely with the Director of the Bureau of Prisons. However, the First Step Act of 2018 modified the language of the compassionate release statute, allowing federal prisoners to file motions on their own behalf. This change to the statute, while subtle, empowers district courts to independently determine whether "extraordinary and compelling" reasons warrant compassionate release. This proposition is supported by the plain text of the statute and the Sentencing Commission's policy statements on compassionate release. Proper consideration of the penal goals of punishment will also support granting sentence reductions in a broad range of cases. Thus, the modified compassionate release statute arguably grants courts a method to begin to tackle the problem of mass incarceration in the United States.
- Subjects
PRISON release; PRISON sentences; SENTENCE reduction (Criminal procedure); UNITED States Sentencing Commission; LEGAL status of prisoners
- Publication
Wisconsin Law Review, 2020, Vol 2020, Issue 6, p1287
- ISSN
0043-650X
- Publication type
Article