Dear Friend,

We have exciting news: On November 1, 2023, amendments expanding federal compassionate release will go into effect!

Earlier this year, the United States Sentencing Commission voted on a slate of amendments expanding the list of “extraordinary and compelling reasons” a judge can use when considering a motion for compassionate release. These amendments cover inadequate medical care, sexual and/or physical abuse while incarcerated, infectious disease outbreaks, and more.

Most encouraging is a new “unusually long sentence” ground. To qualify, the individual must have served at least ten years of a sentence that a change in law has since lowered, and there must be a large disparity between the sentence they are serving and the one they would serve if they were sentenced today.

Learn more about the changes here: https://famm.org/wp-content/uploads/Explainer-10-23-23.pdf

FAMM fought hard for these changes. I also want to acknowledge the work that our FAMMily put into securing these victories at the Sentencing Commission. Not only did we have three excellent FAMMily members testify live before the Sentencing Commission in support of expanding compassionate release, but thousands of directly impacted advocates submitted comments to the Commission. These perspectives had a profound impact. We thank you for your continued advocacy!

We will keep you updated as the amendments go live and judges begin to consider compassionate release motions using these new criteria.

Thank you,