In the News

The Department of Justice has announced a new written policy prohibiting the use of “chokeholds” and “carotid restraints,” a method of knocking out a detainee by restricting blood flow to their brain, unless an officer is authorized to use deadly force. The DOJ also announced a new policy limiting the use of “no-knock” warrants and entries. The policies will be applied across the entire Department of Justice and its sub-agencies.

A study recently released by NACDL has revealed the government’s failure to effectively administer the “S Visa” program, which gives non-citizens legal status in exchange for their cooperation in criminal or terrorism-related cases. While 200 criminal informants can be granted an S visa each year, for example, only 16 were granted an S visa in 2018. The report details the bureaucratic obstacles facing S visa applicants and other aspects of the S visa program that make it inaccessible.

As reported by the New York Times, the Department of Justice recently determined that federal inmates on home confinement pursuant to the CARES Act must return to prison when the pandemic is over. Unless the DOJ changes its position, Congress will have to pass a law or the Biden administration will have to issue mass sentence commutations to avoid sending thousands of people back to prison after spendings months back in their communities.

The US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia has issued a press release regarding the latest developments in some of its fraud cases involving COVID-19 relief funds. Our firm has also compiled a list of COVID-19 relief fraud cases from across the country with the kinds of charges and sentences in each case (link in the post).

The U.S. Sentencing Commission recently released statistics reflecting trends in federal prosecutions for marijuana trafficking. The stats reflect that, since 2016, the number of federal marijuana trafficking cases has significantly and consistently decreased. The stats also broke down the number of offenders in BOP custody for marijuana, how many received downward variances, and other trends.

Late last month, the Department of Justice submitted written testimony to the U.S. Senate “urging Congress to pass legislation to permanently end the sentencing disparities between crack cocaine and powder cocaine. The DOJ stated that the sentencing disparity, established in the 1980s, was based on “misguided policy” and “misinformation.” The DOJ further noted that 87.5% of people in federal prison serving time for crack offenses were black. Senator Grassley issued a written statement in support of reforming federal drug laws but criticized the DOJ for not providing a live witness.

The U.S. Sentencing Commission has released data reflecting the number of “compassionate release” motions that have been granted during the COVID-19 pandemic (21%). The report breaks down the data by showing how many were granted and denied by district and by the year when the inmate’s original sentence was imposed, as well as other information.

A district court in the Eastern District of Washington recently granted an inmate’s request for compassionate release based on changes in marijuana laws since the defendant was convicted of growing marijuana and using a firearm. The opinion is an extension of the argument, adopted by several circuits, that changes to sentencing laws can be the basis for an inmate’s sentence reduction if the inmate would have been sentenced to less time under today’s laws, even where Congress does not make these changes retroactive.

The Eleventh Circuit became the first, and so far the only, circuit court to hold that district courts considering sentence reductions motions under 3582(c)(1)(A) are bound by the criteria under USSG 1B1.13. To date, seven other circuits have held that district courts have discretion to determine if an inmate has presented extraordinary and compelling reasons warranting a reduction. District courts in the Eleventh Circuit now have much less discretion to reduce an inmate’s sentence.

The U.S. Sentencing Commission has issued a “Retroactivity Data Report,” reflecting the data showing how many inmates have had their sentences reduced under the First Step Act’s retroactive sentencing provisions for crack-cocaine offenders. The data includes a break down by criminal history category, whether the offender had a firearm, and the average reduction.