Compassionate Release Request Controlled by First Step Act

A First Step Act provision that allows judges to determine whether an inmate should be granted compassionate release controls over the directive in the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines that the decision belongs to the Bureaus of Prisons, the Second Circuit said Friday.

The language of the applicable guideline is clearly outdated and can’t be fully applicable, the court said in an opinion by Judge Guido Calabresi. Instead of abolishing the provision, however, the court read the statute and guideline together.

The BOP may still bring compassionate release motions, but they are no longer exclusive, the court said. The guideline criteria establishing ...