...Erica Zunkel; Jaden M. Lessnick In a harsh and inflexible system that offers few opportunities for judges to reevaluate the sentences they impose when circumstances warrant, federal compassionate release holds great promise. When the First Step Act was passed in 2018, sentencing judges were freed...

... of sentence for “extraordinary and compelling reasons.” So-called “compassionate release” has taken on new significance since Congress amended the authorizing statute in the First Step Act of 2018. Because the Commission had no quorum at the time and for several years after it has been unable to amend...

.... Further, the Agency was created to oversee a vastly different population than the aging and medically vulnerable people under its jurisdiction now. The article recommends amending the First Step Act to allow all old law people to apply for compassionate release under the same procedures available to new...

... with their refusals to cooperate and/or plead guilty. This article describes the Holloway Project and how it has used what has become known colloquially as the “compassionate release” statute, 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A), and 2018’s First Step Act to persuade federal judges to undertake holistic, compassionate...

...David Roper After decades of Bureau of Prisons’ maladministration of the sentence reduction authority authorized by 18 U.S.C. § 3582, Congress passed the First STEP Act of 2018 with the intention of expanding the use and transparency of compassionate release. Although the COVID-19 pandemic...

...Douglas A. Berman This Issue of FSR explores a range of perspectives on the import and impact of the First Step Act as we approach the first anniversary of President Trump signing it into law. Key themes that emerge from materials in this Issue include the need for effective implementation...

...Jessica Kelley; Arthur Rizer The passage of the First Step Act by the federal government one year ago marked a significant change in the way states approached the issue of criminal justice reform. Some states, like Florida, have been fighting for years to pass reforms, but after the passage...

...Jalila Jefferson-Bullock The passage of the First Step (Act) represents an ambitious, bipartisan compromise to commence much-needed, genuine federal sentencing reform. However, as its name suggests, it is, in practice, simply one meager stride in what requires a marathon to affect true change. Its...

...Sarah French Russell Under the First Step Act of 2018, federal prisoners may now petition courts directly for reduction of their sentences, and judges may grant such requests if “extraordinary and compelling reasons” support reduction. Judges are also in the process of imposing reduced sentences...