Cardozo Law Review de•novo

Volume

2024

First Page

148

Last Page

177

Publication Date

2024

Document Type

Note

Abstract

The passage of the First Step Act of 2018 provoked a wave of scholarship analyzing the impact of the Act on compassionate release. However, little attention has been paid to the newfound potential for sentencing errors to fit within the compassionate release framework. This Note addresses a federal circuit split over the legality of sentencing errors as a ground for compassionate release. Drawing on statutory text, legislative history, and recently promulgated U.S. Sentencing Commission guidelines, this Note seeks to provide a robust defense for judicial discretion to consider sentencing errors as a basis for compassionate release. Sentencing errors represent a profound failure of the criminal legal system and expose the extremely limited opportunities to correct such an error through post-conviction litigation. Although the proposals contained within this Note have the potential to alleviate some suffering, this discrete statutory issue is narrow in scope and should not distract from the enormity of harm caused by the criminal legal system.

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