Highligthing again highlights of federal resentencing and broader second-look sentencing issues

In this recent post, I noted Adam Liptak's latest Sidebar column discussing federal compassionate release issues in conjunction with Judge Frederic Block's new book, "A Second Chance: A Federal Judge Decides Who Deserves It."  I was pleased to see today that David Lat now has this new substack post which gives even more attention to the book and Judge Block's work under the headline "This Federal Judge Calls For Giving Prisoners A Second Chance: Judge Fred Block, 90, continues to speak out about important issues facing the criminal-justice system."  I highly recommend the full post (including the footnotes), and here are a few excerpts:

What are the requirements for granting [a sentencing reduction under the First Step Act], known as “compassionate release”? The critical one is that the judge must find “extraordinary and compelling reasons” for doing so.

And what can constitute “extraordinary and compelling reasons”? It’s currently the subject of extensive litigation in district and circuit courts — which have issued conflicting rulings on multiple issues, making it likely that the U.S. Supreme Court will intervene....

If and when the justices get involved, I have a reading recommendation for them: A Second Chance: A Federal Judge Decides Who Deserves It.  In this engaging and enlightening new book, Judge Frederic Block of the Eastern District of New York presents readers with six defendants who filed motions for compassionate release in his court.  He asks us to reflect on whether we would reduce their sentences—then reveals how he ultimately ruled....

But as discussed in A Second Chance, and as Judge Block mentioned again when we spoke, federal prisoners constitute only about 10 percent of the total prison population in the United States.  The remaining 90 percent are in state prisons and local jails.  Judge Block believes that they too should be eligible for compassionate release — and describes his book as “my clarion call to all the states to follow Congress’s lead and enact their own First Step acts.”

The recommendation that all states create second-look sentencing mechanisms is, in my view, very well founded.  And I have been pleased to see various discussions of such a possibility in a few recent media pieces:

From Michigan, "Michigan Coalition Calls for Second Look Legislation to Alleviate Staffing Shortages in State Prisons"

From Nevada, "Committee to sponsor ‘second look’ bill that allows for reduction of lengthy prison sentences"

From New York, "After 17 Years in Prison, I’m a Different Person. Do Cases Like Mine Deserve a Second Look?"