Hi-Visibility Demonstrations and Riots Knock Pandemic News
Off Front Page
by Derek Gilna
The several-month
run of pandemic news dominating headlines came
to an end over the weekend, as big cities dealt with fires
and looting, with regular U.S. Army troops positioned themselves alongside
local police and national guardsmen. The hard work of winning Compassionate
Release and sentence relief under the First Step Act still continues, but
without the advantage of relentless bad publicity exposing the federal prison
system. Nonetheless, the momentum for
change is too strong to be sidetracked, as many federal judges finally show
themselves to take on stone-walling bureaucrats.
Although
there has been no new update on S.1380, requiring prosecutor compliance with
Brady discovery mandates, the Senate will start hearings regarding "best
practices for incarceration and detention during COVID-19." Should proved
interesting.
Former Georgia Governor Nathan Deal has launched the
bipartisan "Next Step" task force, calling for an end to mandatory
minimums and other major reforms.
Many
current and former top prosecutors and police chief have urged the 6th Circuit
to act decisively to fast track the release of prisoners from Elkton, after
SCOTUS in a 6-3 vote refused to block the orders of judge James Gwinn to
release 800.. A class action proceeds in Lompoc ,
California MCC Brooklyn are seeking a
preliminary injunction to force the jail to meet minimal standards of medical
care. Butner has seen an uptick in cases of over 400 and a string of bad press
and new lawsuits. Yazoo City FMC Devan
has also fallen ill, but is recovering.
For months
now judges have been literally bombarded with well-drafted petitions
complaining of horrific conditions in the federal prison system and its tardy
or non-existent reaction to the pandemic that has infected thousand of
prisoners and killed hundreds. Judges must now confront the ugly truth of their
over-sentencing, along with the misconduct of the prosecutors and prison
officials attempted concealment of the facts
In the
circuits, in US v Smithers,19-5849, 5-26-20,
the 6th Cir affirmed the denial
of FSA relief in a Fair Sentencing fact
situation, since even with the reduction Smithers' mandatory minimum
sentence he still qualified as a career
offender, and the court's denial of discretionary FSA relief under 3582 was
supported by the facts. It left intact, however, the fact the challenge was
proper of FSA, leaving the door open for future relief in other cases. Also in
the 6th Cir., in US v. Perez-Rodriguez, 18-4203, 5-27-20, the court said that
in a case involving illegal reentry, the sentencing court's use of facts
outside the record rendered the sentence substantially unreasonable, and
reversed and remanded. In another FSA decision, in US v. Banks, 19-1750,
5-28-20, the court upheld a sentence reduction from 55 years to 40 years, of
and 846 and 841(b)(1)(A) matter.
Points to
Ponder: "Always remember Goliath was a 40 point favorite over David."
Never give up, never surrender. Let not your heart be troubled.
Federal Legal Center, Inc., Derek A. Gilna, JD, Director,
(Also in Indiana dgilna1948@yahoo.com
Blogging at Google Blog Spot as "Derek Gilna's Criminal
Justice Blog."
