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The most recent COVID-19 relief bill contained a new criminal law called the “Protecting Lawful Streaming Act.” The new law makes it a felony to host streams of copyrighted works without permission, punishable by up to 10 years in prison. While politicians have stressed that the law is only aimed at “commercial, for profit piracy services,” the text of the law is much broader, and would allow prosecutions of individuals and could be applied against those making “fair use” of copyrighted material.

President Biden has nominated Xavier Becerra, California’s Attorney General, to lead the Health and Human Services Department. Based on his experience as a prosecutor and the substantial stimulus money paid out to healthcare providers during COVID-19, legal observers are predicting an aggressive new approach in healthcare fraud enforcement by the government.

Earlier this month, the DOJ instructed the BOP that inmates currently on home confinement under the CARES Act will have to report back to prison once the COVID-19 emergency is over. The DOJ’s memo was issued by the Trump administration, and neither President Biden nor his nominee for Attorney General, Merrick Garland, have stated whether they will reverse that decision or require inmates on home confinement to go back to prison.

Recent legislation called the Due Process Protections Act amended Rule 5 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. The Rule now requires district courts to issue orders at the initial appearance in every criminal case that reminds prosecutors of their obligations under Brady, lists potential consequences for violations, and sets deadlines for compliance.

The incoming Biden administration is expected to increase criminal prosecutions under the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act, as well as rollback prior administration directives that prioritized “compliance assistance” over seeking civil or criminal penalties. The Biden administration has also announced its intention to establish an Environmental and ClimateJustice Division to help the DOJ’s Environment and Natural Resource Department investigate and prosecute violators of environmental laws and regulations.

Updated September 27, 2021 – The Compilation has been updated to include cases involving inmates that have already been vaccinated or refuse to get vaccinated and cases where an inmate has been granted compassionate release while on home confinement. Attorney Tom Church has compiled a list of Compassionate Release grants and some of the key […]

The Sixth Circuit and Seventh Circuit have joined the Second Circuit in holding that district courts considering motions for sentence reductions under 18 USC 3582(c)(1)(A) can exercise their discretion in determining whether an inmate has presented “extraordinary and compelling reasons” warranting a sentence modification.

The Marshall Project has published a helpful primer of President-Elect Joe Biden’s Criminal Justice Platform, which, if enacted, would be the most progressive criminal justice agenda in U.S. history. The article focuses on the areas of mandatory minimum sentences, cash bail, the death penalty, eliminating private prisons, and other areas.

The Department of Justice recently put out a press release stating that the total incarceration rate of state and federal inmates in 2019, at 419 inmates for every 100,000 U.S. residents, was the lowest the incarceration rate has been since 1995. The press release discusses the gradual increase in the incarceration rate since the 1990s and breaks down the changing trends by race and by type of crime. Given the number of inmates released during the COVID-19 pandemic, this number may continue to decrease, at least in the short term.

The Moritz College of Law at Ohio State University has compiled a list of criminal justice ballot measures in the 2020 election, by state and by type of reform, to inform voters of what drug reform initiatives or criminal justice reforms are on the ballot in their states. The article lists, for example, Arizona as the only state where possession of any amount of marijuana is a felony and where voters can vote to legalize recreational weed after the initiative barely failed in 2016. The article also lists measures in California to allow certain felons to vote and reform cash bail. Oregon, on the other hand, will have a ballot measure giving residents the power to decriminalize possession of any kind of drug.