And here is the conclusion of the full report: The First Step Act is a significant achievement. The New York Times has this effective new article highlighting the ugly underbelly of the FRIST STEP Act's efforts to make sure the Fair Sentencing Act's reduction of crack sentences was fully retroactive. And, finally, including the downward adjustment in drug sentences, Obama-era reforms resulted in more than double (230%) the FSAâs reduction in prison use in its first year. | Comments (0). 15 CR 470-1, 2020 WL 3529904 (ND Ill. June 30, 2020), United States v. Rachal, No. "The text Congress enacted makes retroactive relief broadly available to all individuals sentenced for crack-cocaine offenses before the Fair Sentencing Act," the senators wrote in a brief filed Friday. Today, thanks to a heads up from a helpful colleague, I learned that the Acting Solicitor General sent this important short letter to the Supreme Court concerning the government's position in the Terry case.
Regular readers are surely familiar with the big deal I have long made about the statutory changes to the so-called compassionate release provisions in federal law via the FIRST STEP Act. 18-CR-736-04 (NSR), 2020 WL 3976991 (SDNY July 13, 2020), United States v. White, No. Therefore, we hold that § 1B1.13 is not an applicable policy statement for compassionate-release motions brought directly by inmates, and so district courts need not consider it when ruling on those motions. July 14, 2020), United States v. Mitchell, No. While the finality of sentences is an important principle, the compassionate release provision of § 3582(c) ârepresents Congressâs judgment that the generic interest in finality must give way in certain individual cases and authorizes judges to implement that judgment.â See United States v. McCoy, 981 F.3d 271, 288 (4th Cir. Rather, the district courtâs decision indicates that its finding of âextraordinary and compelling reasonsâ was based on its individualized review of all the circumstances of Maumauâs case and its conclusion âthat a combination of factorsâ warranted relief, including: âMaumauâs young age at the time ofâ sentencing; the âincredibleâ length of his stacked mandatory sentences under § 924(c); the First Step Actâs elimination of sentence-stacking under § 924(c); and the fact that Maumau, âif sentenced today, .
But I still think it quite notable given that some prominent critics of criminal justice reform loudly called part of the Act a "foolish ... jailbreak that would endanger communities" or regularly asserted that this "leniency legislation inevitably would lead to more crime." Young's new report, which can be downloaded below, is a detailed effort to pushback on some of Prez Trump's claims about "his" achievements through the FIRST STEP Act. In a âfriend of the courtâ brief urging the justices to grant review in another case presenting the same question, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers explained that the lower courts are divided on this question; as a result, NACDL wrote, Supreme Court review is necessary âto prevent thousands of predominately Black defendants from being forced to spend years longer in prison than identically situated defendantsâ elsewhere in the country âand to ensure that Congressâs goal of alleviating the racial disparities in sentencing caused by the 1986 lawâs harsh sentencing regime is realized.â, January 9, 2021 in Drug Offense Sentencing, FIRST STEP Act and its implementation, New crack statute and the FSA's impact, Sentences Reconsidered, State Sentencing Guidelines, Who Sentences | Permalink
14-cr-20520, 2020 U.S. Dist. § 1B1.13, we vacate and remand so that the district court can reassess Arudaâs motion for compassionate release under the correct legal standard.... We agree with the persuasive decisions of our sister circuits and also hold that the current version of U.S.S.G.
CCB-09-369, 2020 WL 3960830 (D Md. First, the text of § 1B1.13 says it only applies to âmotion[s] of the Director of the Bureau of Prisons.â U.S.S.G. The rate of violent crime excluding simple assault declined 15% from 2018 to 2019, from 8.6 to 7.3 victimizations per 1,000 persons age 12 or older. June 24, 2020). 19-cr-00105-RS-2, 2020 WL 3791590 (ND Cal. | Comments (5). I hope this isn't true, but action speak louder than words, and the inaction of the Justice Department and BOP on this paints a very difficult picture.". | Comments (0). December 2, 2020 in FIRST STEP Act and its implementation, Procedure and Proof at Sentencing, Sentences Reconsidered, Who Sentences | Permalink
Some of those grants are detailed in some of the posts below, and I am hopeful the US Sentencing Commission or someone else "official" might have a truly comprehensive report on these matters before too long. Here is its abstract: The First Step Act, a seemingly miraculous bipartisan criminal justice reform bill, was signed into law in late 2018. Judge Edmunds said at the time of the original sentencing there were "serious differences" between Ferguson's conduct and that of Kilpatrick â the mastermind of the pay-to-play scheme to exchange city business for bribes and kickbacks. The purpose of this letter is to notify the Court that the United States has reconsidered that position and will no longer defend the judgment of the court of appeals. On December 31, 2019, a total of 31,458 federal prisoners were non-citizens of the United States (18% of all BOP prisoners), and 21,922 prisoners identified English as their second language (13% of all BOP prisoners). We must today decide whether the First Step Act empowered district courts evaluating motions for compassionate release to consider any extraordinary and compelling reason for release that a defendant might raise, or whether courts remain bound by U.S. The Biden administration has reached out to key lawmakers and the criminal justice community for guidance on a slate of appointments to revive the sentencing commission, a move that also could influence congressional efforts to further change the nationâs criminal justice system. More specifically, Defendant was not an elected official and had been charged with and convicted of a substantially smaller number of charges. In that post, I noted that Congress in the FIRST STEP Act had expressly provided that the reduced 924(c) mandatory minimums were to be applicable "if a sentence for the offense has not been imposed as of such date of enactment" of the Act. June 30, 2020), United States v. Pina, No.
To date, we have identified 19 individuals who died in BOP custody after filing â and in some cases, even after being granted â requests for release.... BOP and DOJ have ignored the tools Congress gave them to lower prison populations safely. CR H-96-176, 2020 WL 3618682 (SD Tex. And theyâre not, and thatâs good,â said FAMM President Kevin Ring. June 9, 2020 in FIRST STEP Act and its implementation, Prisons and prisoners, Reentry and community supervision, Who Sentences | Permalink
3:17cr228 (JBA), 2020 WL 3843716 (D Conn. July 8, 2020), United States v. Gutierrez, No. In order to find your ACT goal score for 2021, follow these three steps. In particular, we have highlighted their concerns regarding healthcare and the management of COVID-19 spread; the appalling conditions resulting from altered operations of the past year; the BOPâs lack of transparency with families and the public; underutilization of release mechanisms intended to protect prisoners; and lacking implementation of the First Step Act. Thatâs around 1.8% of the people under the bureauâs supervision.
2:06-CR-20020-01, 2020 WL 3967719 (WD La. Application note 4 of the commentary makes clear that a âreduction under this policy statement may be granted only upon a motion by the Director of the Bureau of Prisons.â U.S.S.G. Here is its abstract: This paper seeks to examine how judges are deciding compassionate-release motions in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has proven particularly deadly inside the nationâs prisons. 98-279(8) (JRT/AJB), 2020 WL 3839831 (D Minn. July 8, 2020), United States v. Steffey, No. The FIRST STEP Act, which is fully titled the Formerly Incarcerated Reenter Society Transformed Safely Transitioning Every Person Act, was signed by Prez Trump into law on Dec. 21, 2018. November 15, 2020 in FIRST STEP Act and its implementation, Sentences Reconsidered | Permalink
Sentencing Resource Counsel for the Federal Public Community Defenders has just released this new two-page fact sheet dense with information and links on "The COVID-19 Crisis in Federal Detention." ; and (4) Must judges adopt the operative drug quantity from the original sentencing?
I was so excited to see Prez Biden announce his first slate of judicial nominations in part because I have been presuming that we would not get needed nomination to the US Sentencing Commission until at least some judge nominees were first put forward. In December of 2018, Congress passed and the President signed the FIRST STEP Act into law, taking the first steps needed to correct a serious injustice in our country. There were 880,000 fewer victims of serious violent or property crimes (generally felonies) in 2019 than in 2018, a 19% drop. February 27, 2021 in FIRST STEP Act and its implementation, Procedure and Proof at Sentencing, Technocorrections | Permalink
Well, his prior convictions still set up his stat max, and his stat max still sets up his new guidelines. The 63-year-old from Springfield, Missouri, fought over six months for âcompassionate release,â arguing in his emergency bid for freedom that heâd be unlikely to survive a coronavirus outbreak in federal prison. The Safe Step Act of 2021: The Safe Step Act amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) to require a group health plan provide an exception process for any medication step therapy protocol. 5194, 5239, which allows a sentence reduction for âextraordinary and compelling reasons.â The gross disparity created by the legislative changes, which mitigated the harshness in the sentencing scheme to which McDonel was subjected, coupled with McDonelâs youth and rehabilitative efforts, qualify as extraordinary and compelling reasons under section 3582(c)(1)(A)(i). 2020); McCoy, 981 F.3d at 281â82. Now, under statutory changes and modern guideline interpretation, he had a statutory range of 5-40, and guidelines range of 188-235. § 3582(c)(1)(A) motions filed by a defendant. 5194) and the amendments made by that Act, including a review of any prior criminal conduct or any other relevant information from Federal, State, and local authorities. Guidelines still anchor federal sentences; as the government says in Bates they remain the âlodestar.â. But the FSA, which was drafted by legislators, is neither the first nor the largest reform in recent years. The vast majority of the sentencing reduction motions brought by federal prisoners and granted by federal district judges these days are focused on the health threat posed by COVID. 2:12-CR-105, 2020 WL 3528413 (ED Va. June 26, 2020), United States v. Yellin, No. In addition, and I think valuably, the report cover an entirely pre-COVID period and thus sets an interesting and important baseline for understanding the impact of the First Step Act before the pandemic may have changed things. As I have mentioned repeatedly, some rulings do not appear on Westlaw right away and others do not show up at all. (Nerd joke alert: will we see a different kind of Terry stop here?) The Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, a progressive group, has called its legislative agenda for next year âSpend Your Values, Cut Your Losses,â arguing that measures like lowering drug penalties and making it harder to revoke probation and parole will save millions of dollars.... Robert Blizzard, a Republican pollster, said that criminal justice reform proposals garner support across the board, and help Republicans reach outside their base to groups like suburban women and people of color. Their only hope was an historic reform amounting to an admission of Congressional guilt. CR 1:12-09, 2020 WL 3469754 (WD Pa. June 24, 2020), Punished (twice?!?) Br. 56-62) would make a good starting point for the next Congress. 3:15-CR-3181-BTM-1, 2020 WL 3488738 (SD Cal. Sens. BOPâs press releases reveal that the majority â 93 â were at higher risk of complications from COVID-19 and BOP knew it. Since Mr. Jones was convicted of having 50 grams of cocaine base, his charges would come under 21 U.S.C. In the instant case, Zullo does not rely solely on his (apparently extensive) rehabilitation. I surmise that DOJ has consistently argued for narrow and limiting approaches to the application of Section 404. We ought to be doing all we can to ensure their proper implementation. It is hard to imagine that that the First Step Act intended to leave people like Mr. Jones behind. 3:04-CR-30029-NJR, 2020 WL 3639903 (SD Ill. July 6, 2020), Pleased to see growing number of COVID-influenced grants of sentence reductions using 3582(c)(1)(A), Still more COVID-influenced grants of sentence reductions using 3582(c)(1)(A), with waivers of exhaustion/waiting period, Additional COVID-influenced grants of federal sentence reductions using 3582(c)(1)(A), Another round of recent COVID-influenced grants of federal sentence reductions using 3582(c)(1)(A), Still more of the ever-growing number of COVID-influenced federal sentence reductions using 3582(c)(1)(A), Another robust week for COVID-influenced federal sentence reductions using 3582(c)(1)(A), With lots more new grants, time for another timely review of the latest COVID-influenced federal sentence reductions using § 3582(c)(1)(A), A big list for a whole week's worth of COVID-influenced federal sentence reductions using § 3582(c)(1)(A), Despite a short work week, still another long list of new COVID-influenced federal sentence reductions using § 3582(c)(1)(A). January 24, 2021 in FIRST STEP Act and its implementation, Gun policy and sentencing, Mandatory minimum sentencing statutes, Sentences Reconsidered | Permalink
By the end of last year, then, more than 7,000 people either had been released from prison earlier than they otherwise would have been or were serving sentences that will end sooner than would have been the case before the FIRST STEP Act took effect. A New Hampshire federal judge sentenced him to seventeen-and-a-half years imprisonment, the lowest end of the sentencing guidelines recommendation. Which one, and why do we care? 16-20222-3, 2020 WL 3172734 (ED Mich. June 15, 2020), United States v. Madrigal, No. Prosecutors typically argue against the person getting out, and defendants can submit evidence such as medical records or letters of support. Victims of serious crimes are those who experienced a serious violent crime or whose household experienced a completed burglary or completed motor-vehicle theft. Of the 145 compassionate release motions granted, 118 were based on the medical condition of the defendant, 15 were based on age, two were based on family circumstances, and 15 were based on other extraordinary and compelling reasons. 29, 2021); United States v. Gunn, 980 F.3d 1178, 1180 (7th Cir.
June 15, 2020), United States v. Rivera, No. July 10, 2020), United States v. Leal, No. Faith-based programs made up 56% of all BOP recidivism-reduction partnerships in 2019 (table 9). The pandemic changed everything. Former Music Exec Granted Compassionate Release from Prison After 33 Years, Jailed kids-for-cash judge loses bid for pandemic release, U.S. judge rejects 'Pharma Bro' Shkreli's bid for compassionate release from prison, The Attorney General's First Step Act Section 3634 Annual Report, Report of the Independent Review Committee Report, US Sentencing Commission issues big new report on "The First Step Act of 2018: One Year of Implementation", Reviewing how much and how little the FIRST STEP Act has achieved, US Sentencing Commission releases its latest updated "First Step Act of 2018 Resentencing Provisions Retroactivity Data Report", Big new Heritage report takes stock of DOJ's risk and needs assessment system resulting from FIRST STEP Act, Digging carefully into what the FIRST STEP Act has, and has not, really achieved, "Who should oversee implementing the First Step Act? Moreover, the rate of burglary victimization declined to the lowest level since the NCVS was redesigned in 1993.
SCOTUS mavens will better know if the Justices might just remand this particular case rather than try to appoint an amicus at this stage of the proceedings. The FIRST STEP Act was an unlikely bipartisan success that brought modest but desperately needed sentencing and prison reforms to the federal system. The act was the culmination of several years of congressional debate about what Congress might do to reduce the size of the federal prison population while also creating mechanisms to maintain public safety. § 3582(c)(1)(A) without awaiting a motion by the Bureau of Prisons. | Comments (1). 2020), we disagree with this reading of the statuteâs trailing paragraph. But it does not govern here â on the newly authorized motion of a prisoner. 1:16-cr-42 (LMB) (ED Va. Dec. 3, 2020) (available for download below), is such a case. After the defendantsâ convictions became final, Congress passed the First Step Act and ended sentence âstackingâ under § 924(c). In 1995, the Sentencing Commission told Congress that Black defendants accounted for nearly 90 percent of crack cocaine convictions and that most of their customers were white. For examples, a reform in sentences for crack cocaine at the close of the George Bush administration reduced the use of federal prisons by close to three-quarters of the reduction obtained from the FSA.
95-496-1, 2020 WL 3871313 (ED Pa. July 9, 2020), No. (Notably, the USSC does not report at all, and may not be collecting, data on how many sentence reduction motions have been brought to, and have been denied by, district courts. To date, the Department of Justice has risen to part of the challenge by publishing PATTERN, its risk assessment tool. 115-391). Areas where harsh criminal laws appear to be driven by government efforts to hyper-regulate often intangible harms, such as extreme mandatory sentencing statutes related to drug crimes and gun possession, seem especially likely settings for a convergence of views and new alliances for advocacy efforts. âYou keep on thinking, my god, heâs so close to coming home,â said Shirley Marler, Brayfieldâs 84-year-old mom. As to benefits for Black Americans, the FSAâs reductions in sentences for crack cocaine benefited Black individuals disproportionally, as intended, yet very little more than did three similarly structured reforms intended to alleviate racial disparities in federal drug sentencing.