This Federal Judge Calls for Giving Prisoners a Second Chance

If you ask federal trial judges to name the toughest part of their job, most will cite sentencing. Sentencing a criminal defendant is a weighty decision, affecting years or even decades of that person’s life. And for many years, it was final: A judge couldn’t revisit it, even if there were major changes in the defendant or their circumstances.

That changed in 2018, when Congress passed the First Step Act—with overwhelming bipartisan support, including from then-president Donald Trump. Under one of the law’s most important provisions, a federal district judge can reconsider a previously imposed sentence and reduce it—even if that sentence was (and remains) lawful, and even if that sentence was life imprisonment.

What are the requirements for granting this relief, known as “compassionate release”? The critical one is that the judge must find “extraordinary and compelling reasons” for doing so.

And what can constitute “extraordinary and compelling reasons”? It’s currently the subject of extensive litigation in district and circuit courts—which have issued conflicting rulings on multiple issues, making it likely that the US Supreme Court will intervene. (The court did tackle the FSA last term in Pulsifer v. US, but it interpreted a different part of the statute.)

If and when the justices get involved, I have a reading recommendation for them: “A Second Chance: A Federal Judge Decides Who Deserves It.” In this enlightening and engaging new book, Judge Frederic Block of the Eastern District of New York presents readers with six defendants who filed motions for compassionate release in his court. He asks us to reflect on whether we would reduce their sentences—then reveals how he ultimately ruled.

His decisions reflect decades of experience. Appointed in 1994 by President Bill Clinton, Block celebrates his 30th anniversary on the bench later this month. And at age 90, he continues to hear cases as a senior judge—with no current plans to hang up his robes.

“I can’t retire until Glasser does,” Block said—referring to Judge Leo Glasser, who at 100 is the oldest judge currently serving on the federal bench, and whose chambers are down the hall from Block’s.

And Block somehow finds time to write books as well. Last week, I visited him at home—a sunny, art-filled apartment in Greenwich Village, where he has lived for almost three decades, and interviewed him about “A Second Chance.” It’s his fourth book—or his fourth to be published, at least, since he has two completed manuscripts that he’s trying to publish, plus another that’s already 100 pages.

He started writing “A Second Chance” in July 2023, at the home in Greece where he and his wife Betsy spend the summers. By September, the book was more or less done—because, the judge told me, “At my age, I have to write fast.” I asked what inspired him to tackle this topic.

“The First Step Act is probably the most significant piece of sentencing reform I’ve ever experienced,” he told me. “It really changed the sentencing landscape in the United States. In deciding motions for compassionate release under the act, I came across all of these fascinating stories—which gave me the idea for the book.”

The cases he shares in “A Second Chance” make for compelling reading. He begins with that of Justin Volpe, the former New York City police officer notorious for brutalizing Abner Louima, a wrongfully arrested Black man, in 1997.

Block then describes the cases of a drug dealer implicated in a murder, a computer programmer who accessed child pornography, and three Mafia defendants. In the end, the judge reduced the sentences of two of the six defendants.

And Block continues to receive motions for compassionate relief—as do judges across the country. As of January 2024, 4,680 inmates have been released by judges since the First Step Act took effect.

Prior to the FSA, only the Federal Bureau of Prisons had the power to grant compassionate release—which it rarely exercised, granting relief to an average of only two-dozen defendants per year.

But as discussed in “A Second Chance,” and as Block mentioned again when we spoke, federal prisoners constitute only about 10% of the total prison population in the US. The remaining 90% are in state prisons and local jails. Block believes they too should be eligible for compassionate release—and describes his book as “my clarion call to all the states to follow Congress’s lead and enact their own First Step acts.”

I asked him: How likely is it that states will act? Proponents of criminal justice reform appear to have lost ground to the “tough on crime” camp. Trump, who used to brag about signing the First Step Act, no longer talks about it—and instead claims on the campaign trail that he is “the law and order candidate.”

“I’m not overly optimistic,” Block admitted. He suggested that in the current political environment, some politicians fear the electoral consequences of being seen as soft on crime.

But he noted that at least some states are considering reforms—including New York, where Senator Julia Salazar (D-NY) has sponsored the Second Look Act. And he said that even if the odds are against him, he won’t stop “urging people to think about the issues our justice system faces—and the number-one issue, in my view, is mass incarceration.”

“After 30 years on the bench, I have the confidence and security to talk about the things that bother me,” Block said. “So I’ve taken this opportunity to speak my piece.”

David Lat, a lawyer turned writer, publishes Original Jurisdiction. He founded Above the Law and Underneath Their Robes, and is author of the novel “Supreme Ambitions.”

Read More Exclusive Jurisdiction