District Court finds statutory sentence reform among "extraordinary and compelling reasons" for reducing LWOP sentence under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A)
As regular readers know, ever since the passage of the FIRST STEP Act, I have been talking up 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A) as a critical and valuable new mechanism to reduce problematic prison sentences in any and every case in which the defendant presents "extraordinary and compelling reasons" for the reductions. Though to date it seems this imprisonment-reduction authority granted by 3582(c)(1)(A) has been used almost only for so-called compassionate release situations in which a prisoner was extremely ill or had an extreme family situation, I posted here yesterday a recent example of a judge finding other reasons sufficient to reduce a sentence and making clear that the new FIRST STEP Act allows a judge broad authority to "determine whether any extraordinary and compelling reasons" justified a reduction in a prison term. United States v. Cantu, No. 1:05-CR-458-1, 2019 WL 2498923 (S.D. Tex. June 17, 2019).
Interestingly, around the time I was blogging about the Cantu ruling, another US District Court judge was issuing another important § 3582(c)(1)(A) ruling in United States v. Cantu-Rivera, Cr. No. H-89-204 (SD Tex. June 24, 2019) (available for download below). This one, penned by Judge Sim Lake, is the first cases I have seen in which a defendant serving an LWOP sentence has had his sentence reduced to time served (30 years!) via a motion under § 3582(c)(1)(A). This new Cantu-Rivera ruling, which runs only six pages and merits a full read, includes these notable passages:
Mr. Cantu-Rivera meets the age-related definition of extraordinary and compelling circumstances in U.S.S.G.§ lBl.13, comment. (n.l(B)). He is 69 years old, he is experiencing serious deterioration in physical health because of the aging process (arthritic conditions in multiple joints, cataracts, diabetes, prostrate conditions), and he has served 30 years in prison....
The Court also recognizes the extraordinary degree of rehabilitation Mr. Cantu-Rivera has accomplished during the 30 years he has been incarcerated. That rehabilitation includes extensive educational achievements, including Mr. Cantu-Rivera's completion of over 4,000 hours of teaching while in federal prison to complete a Teaching Aide apprenticeship with the Department of Labor. The extraordinary degree of rehabilitation is also evident in Mr. Cantu-Rivera's service as a teaching assistant in several prison facilities for high-school equivalency and English-as-a Second-Language programs and his service in the BOP's suicide watch program, helping to care for inmates placed in solitary confinement due to suicide attempts. Finally, the Court recognizes as a factor in this combination the fundamental change to sentencing policy carried out in the First Step Act's elimination of life imprisonment as a mandatory sentence solely by reason of a defendant's prior convictions. § 401(a)(2)(A)(ii), 132 Stat. at 5220 (codified at 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(A)). The combination of all of these factors establishes the extraordinary and compelling reasons justifying the reduction in sentence in this case.
A few prior related posts on § 3582(c)(1)(A) after FIRST STEP Act:
- Compassionate release after FIRST STEP: Should many thousands of ill and elderly federal inmates now be seeking reduced imprisonment in court?
- Encouraging new reports about encouraging new compassionate release realities thanks to FIRST STEP Act
- Highlighting how judges can now bring needed compassion to compassionate release after FIRST STEP Act
- Is anyone collecting and analyzing sentence reduction orders under § 3582(c)(1) since passage of the FIRST STEP Act?
- Good day for thinking hard about sentencing second looks and second chances
- New District Court ruling confirms that "any extraordinary and compelling reasons" can now provide basis for reducing imprisonment under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A)
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