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Re-examining compassionate release

By Douglas A. Berman

One important sentencing topic that rarely gets enough scholarly consideration is the legal doctrines that permit "compassionate release" for prisoners under certain limited circumstances.  I was thus surprised and pleased to discover this new paper on SSRN by William Berry, titled "Extraordinary and Compelling: A Re-Examination of the Justifications for Compassionate Release."  Here is the abstract: Federal law, unbeknownst to many, includes a provision that permits the immediate release of federal prisoners. This safety valve provision requires that the Director of the Bureau of Prisons make a motion on behalf of the prisoner in order to secure the prisoner's compassionate release. Far from being a veiled version of parole, this compassionate release provision is to be used only in circumstances deemed "extraordinary and compelling...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on October 27, 2008 (boomark / email).