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May 13, 2020

With lots more new grants, time for another timely review of the latest COVID-influenced federal sentence reductions using § 3582(c)(1)(A)

In recent posts here and here and here and here and here and here and here and more linked below, I have highlighted a number of the many, many COVID-influenced grants of sentence reductions using § 3582(c)(1)(A).  As mentioned before,  I have received positive feedback concerning these prior posts from various quarters, and so I will continue to report on these kinds of rulings every time I discover a dozen or more of these kinds of notable sentencing ruling.  (And, as I have also mentioned before, these Westlaw listings likely do not represent all sentence reductions being granted by federal courts these days.) 

Though it is only midday on Wednesday, May 13, a whole lot of new rulings and many new grants of sentence reductions dated May 12 were made available on Westlaw this morning.  Thus, before the latest list of new grants of sentence reductions gets far too long, here is a list based on rulings since my last lengthy listing from just last Friday: 

United States v. Ullings, No. 1:10-cr-00406, 2020 WL 2394096 (ND Ga. May 12, 2020)

United States v. Al-Jumail, No. 12-20272, 2020 WL 2395224 (ED Mich. May 12, 2020)

United States v. Barber, No. 6:18-cr-00446-AA, 2020 WL 2404679 (D Ore. May 12, 2020)

United States v. Ramirez, No. 17-10328-WGY, 2020 WL 2404858 (D Mass. May 12, 2020)

United States v. Hunt, No. 18-20037, 2020 WL 2395222 (ED Mich. May 12, 2020)

United States v. Rivernider, No. 3:10-cr-222 (RNC), 2020 WL 2393959 (D Conn. May 12, 2020)

United States v. Velencia, No. 15 Cr. 163 (AT), 2020 WL 2319323 (SDNY May 11, 2020)

United States v. Simpson, No. 11-cr-00832-SI-3, 2020 WL 2323055 (ND Cal. May 11, 2020)

United States v. Reddy, No. 13-cr-20358, 2020 WL 2320093 (ED Mich. May 11, 2020)

United States v. Foreman, No. 3:19-cr-62 (VAB), 2020 WL 2315908 (D Conn. May 11, 2020)

United States v. Connell, No. 18-cr-00281-RS-1, 2020 WL 2315858 (ND Cal. May 8, 2020)

United States v. Joseph, No. 18-cr-00350-BLF-1, 2020 WL 2315806 (ND Cal. May 8, 2020)

United States v. Pena, No. 15-cr-551 (AJN), 2020 WL 2301199 (SDNY May 8, 2020)

United States v. Barrenechea, No. 92-cr-00403-MMC-3, 2020 WL 2315638 (ND Cal. May 7, 2020)

I cannot help but notice that a number of these latest rulings are coming from the same judicial district though from different judges within that district.  I wonder if this is pure coincidence or whether some courts might be developing more of a culture of granting these kinds of motions (or whether Westlaw is just more likely to put orders from certain courts into its databases).

Prior recent related posts since lockdowns:

May 13, 2020 at 01:37 PM | Permalink

Comments

Doug: I offer a different explanation for why some of those Judicial Districts are granting so many 3582 Motions for sentence reductions and compassionate releases: they are hot spots for the Coronavirus, including outbreaks of the virus inside Federal prisons! What do you think? Just look at Michigan and the grants from the Eastern District of Michigan, and northern California and the Northern District of California, for example.

Posted by: James Gormley | May 14, 2020 11:07:50 AM

It is a reasonable hypothesis, James, but many prisoners are not incarcerated near where they were sentenced. Judges near outbreaks might be influenced by that proximity, but the patterns are inconsistent.

Posted by: Doug B. | May 14, 2020 2:10:02 PM

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