Positive Changes at DOJ under Garland and In Congress on the Horizon; DOJ Changes Course on "Covered Sentence" Crack Cases; Prisoners WILL get the $1400 Stimulus
by Derek Gilna
According to the Vera Institute in 2021, "The number of people incarcerated in state and federal prisons and local jails in the United States dropped from around 2.1 million in 2019 to 1.8 million by mid-2020--a 14 percent decrease." Of course, unless you are one of the 14 percent this is of little interest to you, but that silence that you hear is the public NOT objecting to all of the early releases and home confinements. In fact, the atmosphere for further reform has never been better. Unlike under most of Obama's and Trump's time in office, the Democrats hold most of the levers of power, and reform has broad bipartisan appeal.
In fact, plans
are in the works to increase funding for the First Step Act and the kinds of
educational and job training programs, including "earned time
credits," which lets people shorten the length of their sentences by
completing various programs.
The other proposed improvements is to reform an incredibly harsh supervised release system, with invasive and demeaning monitoring and jail time for technical offenses. Also, there is strong support for the Safer Detention Act., the Smarter Sentencing Act, and other initiatives that expired in the last Congress.
Newly introduced Senate Bill 739 is a bill "to specify the state of mind required for conviction for criminal offenses that lack an expressly identified state of mind." If adopted, it would provide a potent defense to a lot of often subjective and amorphous white-collar offenses.
DOJ has also signaled that it now supports the crack retroactivity provision of the First Step Act in SCOTUS case Terry v United States, 20-5904, which concerns which crack offenders have a so-called "covered offense" under Section 404 of the First Step Act that would allow for their retroactive resentencing. This clears the way for crack-related prisoners to file for resentencing.
Despite an attempt to prevent them from doing so, prisoners will be eligible to receive the new $1400 stimulus. If you filed for the stimulus before (even if not yet received) you should receive the new payment at the same address. I do not recommend a REFILING just because the first two payments were delayed.
One of the
unsettling factors that has contributed to the still high COVID-19 infection
rate among federal prisoners is the well documented reluctance of prison staffs
to wear masks, sanitize, and follow the DOJ directives. As inoculations have
begun in prisons, "corrections employees are
refusing vaccines at alarming rates, causing some public health experts to
worry about the prospect of controlling the pandemic both inside and outside. Infection
rates in prisons are more than three times as high as in the general public.
Prison staff helped accelerate outbreaks by refusing to wear
masks, downplaying people’s symptoms, and haphazardly enforcing
social distancing and hygiene protocols in confined, poorly ventilated
spaces ripe for viral spread." Marshall Project,
As the new and
more deadly mutant variants of COVID-19 cross the country, prisons will be in a
poor position to resist it. Wall Street Journal,
Also highly
disturbing is the
There are
many who suggest that the mass outbreaks in places like Waseca, Butner, and
Carswell were a result of "deliberate indifference," and perhaps something
even more. In it's
I encourage
people to consider not only compassionate release cases (if you feel that you
have a serious medical condition), but also 404 motions, commutation/pardons,
or all three. The COVID-19 debacle in federal prisons has alerted most judges
to the horrific conditions on the inside, (with numerous OSHA violations) which in most places, has not improved, with
high COVID counts at, among others,
Also, do not overlook a 2255 habeas. In US v. Pressley, 19-6222, (4th Cir. 3-11-21), the defendant "alleges that he repeatedly asked his trial counsel to file a motion to suppress certain incriminating statements he made to law enforcement officers before his arrest." It was remanded for an evidentiary hearing, which if successful, would result in a resentencing.
Be not afraid, and let not your heart be troubled.
113 McHenry #173,
