Home confinement cohort at risk of being returned to federal prison garnering still more attention (but still little action)

The news a few weeks ago that the Biden Justice Department is not disputing the legal opinion that federal prisoners released into home confinement would have to be returned to prison after the pandemic continues to generate coverage and commentary.  Here is a round-up of just some recent pieces I have seen:

From Common Dreams, "Advocates Condemn Biden Plan to Send 4,000 Inmates Back to Prison After Pandemic"

From The Hill, "Inmates grapple with uncertainty over Biden prison plan"

From The Intercept, "Biden Has Said Pot Prisoners Should Be Free.  Now He’s Poised To Send Some Back To Prison."

From Politico, "Biden's prisoner's dilemma"

From The Root, "Biden Needs to Grant Clemency to the Over 4,000 People on Home Confinement"

It is understandable, but I still think quite unfortunate, that all of these stories focus almost exclusively on Prez Biden and his potential place in this story.  Most advocates have been talking up blanket clemency as the most efficient way to resolve this issue in order to keep the home confinement cohort from being sent back to prison after the COVID pandemic is over.  But, as I have highlighted in various posts, and stressed in this post titled "Why aren't there much stronger calls for CONGRESS to fix post-pandemic home confinement problems?," Congress readily could (and I think should) enact a statute that provides for the home confinement program to be extended beyond the end of the pandemic.  This problem is fundamentally a statutory one created by Congress in the CARES Act, and it could be readily fixed by Congress simply by adding a sentence or two to pending pieces of legislation.

In addition, as I highlighted in this other post, another important option for case-by-case relief for members of this cohort is through compassionate release motions.  This is how Gwen Levi got relief, and such motions have the potential to reduce lengthy sentences and not merely allow these sentences to be served at home.  Consider the story told here by Jeanne Rae Green, who was transferred to home confinement in May 2020 after serving serving 6.5 years of a 12.5 year sentence for meth distribution.  It sounds like she and other members of this home confinement cohort could bring strong sentence reduction motions under the (so-called compassionate release) statutory provisions of 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A).  The legal limbo in which Jeanne and others now find themselves could be perfectly described as constituting "extraordinary and compelling reasons" for a sentence reduction, especially if prosecutors cannot show how the 3553(a) factors would be better served by a return to prison.  (Indeed, as I have previously mentioned, I think federal prosecutors could and should actively promote and support sentence reduction motions for now on home confinement at risk of being sent back to prison.)

I am pleased to see so many working so hard to ensure this issue garners continued attention, and I am hopeful that Prez Biden will use his clemency pen to bring relief to the home confinement cohort ASAP.  But in the meantime, I also hope that pressure will be brought to bear on all the others — from members of Congress to members of DOJ to members of the judiciary — who can and should also be doing more help this cohort.

Some prior recent related posts:

• Notable OLC opinion on "Home Confinement of Federal Prisoners After the COVID-19 Emergency" 
• Spotlighting effectiveness of home confinement under CARES Act and concerns about OLC memo disruption
• Effective review of (just some) issues surrounding home confinement for the Biden Justice Department
• FAMM urges AG Garland to prevent those on home confinement during pandemic from being returning to federal prison 
• Notably advocacy for Prez Biden to use his clemency power to ensure those released into home confinement need not return to prison 
• Why aren't there much stronger calls for CONGRESS to fix post-pandemic home confinement problems?
• Hoping grandmothers and others on home confinement get compassionate consideration
• New York Times reporting Biden Justice Department agrees with OLC memo stating prisoners transferred to home confinement must return to prison after pandemic ends
• Across political spectrum, insightful folks saying in insightful ways that Prez Biden must do better on criminal justice reform