Monday, May 23, 2022

Clemency Again a Hot Topic in Congress; Federal Prisoner Wins 7-Year Reduction with FSA Petition

 

            House Holds Clemency Hearings; First Step Motion Unlocks Seven-Year Sentence Reduction; Update on Sentencing Credits; Sentencing Project Study Highlights Skyrocketing Female Incarceration; New Director Will Come From Outside the System; DOJ  Fails Women, and Conceals Recent Covid Outbreaks; New Studies Highlight COVID Vaccine Suppresses Normal Immune System; Supreme Court Update; 

by Derek Gilna  

            Members of the House subcommittee on the Judiciary heard testimony from experts pressing the White House and Justice Department to increase the rate and diversity of federal clemency grants. Witnesses also testified about the need to reform the Office of the Pardon Attorney.  Congress urged Pardon Attorney Elizabeth Oyer to release disaggregated demographic data on the more than 17,000 pending clemency applications by June 7, 2022, on all pending clemency applications detailing applicant demographic data, month and year of application submission, representation by an attorney, type of clemency request, type of relief sought, type of offense(s), and office currently reviewing application. These petitions often remain on the books for years until granted or denied, but pressure is growing to clear the backlog.

            A recent motion for sentence relief based upon the First Step Act (FSA) unlocked a seven-year sentence reduction, based upon our teams. research and drafting, such that the government was forced to resort to unsuccessfully argue 3553 factors after the beneficiary had completed dozens of classes, had an excellent institutional record, and enjoyed strong family support. The facts of every case are unique, but perhaps a similar result is waiting for you.

            Many of you are still puzzled as to why those FSA programming credits, which should changed your outdates as of January 15, 2022.  Unfortunately, this willful failure fits the pattern of DOJ non-compliance with many sentence-relief laws, putting pressure on prison staff to deflect, deceive, and delay. File your remedies, and be prepared to go to court to get those credits.

            Unfortunately, this pattern of non-compliance with the law and basic human rights spills over to substandard medical care, as well as abuse in many different forms. Research by the Sentencing Project  on female incarceration shows that the number of incarcerated women was nearly five times higher in 2020 than in 1980. Between 1980 and 2020, the number of incarcerated women increased by more than 475%, rising from a total of 26,326 in 1980 to 152,854 in 2020, nationwide. Sadly, the federal prison system has mishandled this increase, as claims of medical neglect (see: Carswell, Aliceville, Waseca, etc.) and outright abuse (see: Dublin) have skyrocketed .

            In a positive development, the new federal prison director will come from outside the federal system, and will not be a former CO, like the current director. Gary Mohr, who has also worked in the private prison industry, is at the top of the list of candidates to replace Michael Carvajal, who submitted his resignation in January but said he would stay on until a successor was named, the people said. A final decision has not been made and it’s unclear when an official announcement would be put forward.

            Covid counts continue to increase, as has prisons' lack of transparency.  FMC Carswell has just been put into "Yellow Level" for COVID.  A town hall meeting  stated it had nothing to do with COVID inside of Carswell,  but was due community spread and the rise in cases in the area. However, outside sources indicated that there were 5 staff positive at Carswell according to the DOJ website.

            At FCI "Cactus Land," masks were issued and the prison went into Code Red, matching the county. According to one, "Many vaxed guys in units have Covid again and some say it is worse this time. However, no more moving to a quarantine unit. But probably no cases on the website because the Health Service does not test anymore, so no tests means there are no cases to report.  Guys just lay in bed with it a couple weeks until it is over."  As this newsletter has detailed, there is no longer a scientific foundation for denial of compassionate release based upon availability of vaccines, since vaccines do not uniformly protect anyone for Covid and the symptoms are not less, despite the assertions of Fauci and the White House..

            Stephanie Seneff, Ph.D., a senior research scientist at MIT who has been at MIT for over five decades, discusses her latest paper, “Innate Immune Suppression by SARS-CoV-2 mRNA Vaccination,." co-written with Dr. Peter McCullough, along with two other authors, Dr. Greg Nigh and Dr. Anthony Kyriakopoulos. Those researchers note that there has been a serious increase in long-term side effects from the COVID vaccines, including the well known problem with blood clotting, and the fear is that in the rush to inoculate large numbers of people without long-term studies on possible side-effects, authorities might have unwittingly caused more long-term problems. Researchers also state, even the natural immunity from the milder OMICRON virus, " may be canceled out in those who have received multiple COVID jabs... Each dose erodes your immune response, such that it becomes increasingly compromised with each jab." In fact, regulators in the European Union are now warning that repeat COVID shots can weaken overall immunity. Business Standard January 12, 2022, Frontiers in Immunology April 14, 2021 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.656700, www.epochtimes.com. 

            The US Supreme Court  moves toward its summer break in late June, with a decision expected on United States v. Taylor, 20-1459, out of the 4th Cir., argued in December, and asking: Whether 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(3)(A)’s definition of “crime of violence” excludes attempted Hobbs Act robbery, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1951(a).Other cases seeking to resolve the widening circuit split regarding the meaning of "extraordinary and compelling circumstances," are slowly working their way to the SC. 

Be not afraid, and let not your heart be troubled. 

Derek Gilna, Director of Research, JD, (De Paul Law School , 1975), MARJ, (Vermont Law School, 2020), Federal Legal Center, 113 McHenry Rd. #173, Buffalo Grove, IL   60089 (and Indiana); dgilna1948@yahoo.com (English newsletter and ALL inquiries, English or Spanish); (Alternate email: dagilna1948@yahoo.com, firststeprelief@yahoo.com). federallc_esp@yahoo.com, Spanish newsletter, but NO inquiries. (This Newsletter is for Information Only and Does Not Constitute Legal Advice. The Director of Research is not an  attorney currently licensed to practice in any jurisdiction.) Blog:  "Derek Gilna's Federal Criminal Justice Musings and Reflections."