District Court Opinion in US v. Trenkler Shows Reach of FSA's
18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A) Powers
by Derek Gilna
Although I
do not often spotlight district court decisions because of their admittedly
limited applicability to other districts or circuits, the case of US v.
Trenkler, 92-10369, (
"Defendant (65) moves for compassionate release, asserting that extraordinary and compelling circumstances warrant his release based on (1) the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in light of his documented heart condition and the outbreak that has left at least 1009 inmates infected with COVID-19 over the past year at USP Tucson; and (2) what Trenkler characterizes as a series of miscarriages of justice that call into question his convictions and sentence.
"The Court reduced Trenkler’s sentence to a term of 41 years, followed by a term of supervised release of 3 years... Trenkler urges the Court to reduce his sentence to time served in light of the 'unique circumstances' surrounding his case. ..Congress has spoken again [via the FIRST STEP Act]. And this time it has given trial judges broad authority — indeed it has imposed a statutory duty, upon a defendant’s motion — to conduct an individualized review of the defendant’s case for extraordinary and compelling circumstances that call out for correction (and) leaves no question that this Court may conclude that a legal error at sentencing constitutes an extraordinary and compelling reason, and reduce the sentence after conducting an individualized review of the case...."
In the Fifth Circuit, a judge was removed from a terrorism case for anti-government bias, which almost never happens. "US District Judge Lynn Hughes,...has developed a reputation as a feisty contrarian over his 33 years on the federal bench, prome to didactic tangents and rants about governments from the city to the federal level trampling on individual and corporate rights, ...(commenting in the case of Asher Abid Khan case) about "blue-suited thugs," while sentencing the defendant to only 18 months.
COVID-19 refuses to go away, despite the best efforts of the DOJ, and now the CDC to wish it to happen. However, it is important that it is transitioning from a "free world" problem, where social distancing, vaccinations, and good medical treatment are reducing mortality to near zero. Unfortunately, it has become just one of many prison-based health risks, along with mold, spoiled food, indifferent to non-existent medical care (often covered up by falsifying medical records), legionnaires disease, decaying heating and ventilation systems, and lack of any mental health treatment that lowers a prisoner's life expectancy.
Although
almost all of the federal prisons suffer from these problems, some courts have
turned a blind eye to these conditions, accepting DOJ's laughable "Action
Plans" as true. My inbox is constantly filled with your personal
statements regarding the true conditions at your institutions, including
Elkton, "conditions...have not changed with the exception of some plastic
posters being put on the wall stating to wash your hands and keep 6 feet
apart;"
Those looking for support in their arguments regarding DOJ incompetence in the COVID pandemic, look no further than "Death in Federal Prison in Dorm-T: The Tragic Tale of Jimmy Monk." The article by Walter Pavlo, a consultant on white collar crime and punishment, spotlights the medical indifference shown by medical staff of a camper whose COVID symptoms were purposely ignored, stating, "The tragedy of Jimmy's death was not so much the disease that took him away, but the suffering of his knowing that the disease was coming for him." www,forbes.com, April 14, 2021.
As
previously pointed out in these pages, there are still more studies that are
realistic about the chance of reinfection for those with compromised immune
systems, even if they have been fully vaccinated. Talk show host Bill Maher
recently made headlines for contracting COVID after being vaccinated. "If
you have a weakened immune system, the...vaccines may have a reduced
effectiveness...it's still important for you and those around you to get
vaccinated...(and) take extra precautions."www.abcnews.com,
The case of US v. Edward, 19-13366, (11th Cir. 5-12-21) takes a somewhat circuitous route in the affirmance of a sentence reduction granted in the district court to a crack defendant who cited 404b, and 3582(c)(1)(B) in a successful effort to reduce his sentence, but one in which the court also increased the length of supervised release. The court upheld both the sentence reduction and the supervised release increase, stating that the First Step Act provides all the authority needed to modify a sentence, including reducing the term of imprisonment and tinkering with supervised release.
For those of you still waiting on Congressional action on the many pending sentence-relief bills, they are all currently sitting Congressional committees awaiting a go-ahead from the White House to bring them to the floor for a vote. Expect this to happen after the infrastructure and voting bills are either passed or defeated. So far, all of the sentence relief attention is focused on the quiet move to jump-start the clemency application backlog, which only requires the approval of the White House to proceed.
Be not afraid, and let not your heart be troubled.
MARJ (Master of Restorative Justice,
Justice Musings and Reflections."
