Videos of families and compassionate release cases

In these videos, two clients and three family members talk, in their own words, about compassionate release motions we filed in federal court. One was for a man who had a stroke in prison. Another was based on a wife’s failing health. Three of the videos come from one family: Joseph Wolcott, his son and his daughter-in-law talk about the motion filed for him after the First Step Act passed.

Each video is short and has captions. Every case is different, and each story describes what happened in one case only.

Advertising material. Outcomes vary. A past result does not predict or guarantee the outcome of any other case.

What a compassionate release motion asks a judge to do

Compassionate release is a request to the federal judge who imposed a prison sentence, asking that judge to make the sentence shorter. The statute allows it for “extraordinary and compelling” reasons, the law’s words for reasons that are unusual and serious, and only after the judge weighs the ordinary sentencing factors in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) (18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A)). It is not a pardon, parole, or a new trial. It applies to a federal sentence. The eligibility guide lists the grounds in the Sentencing Commission’s policy statement, U.S.S.G. § 1B1.13.

The videos below are people talking, in their own words, about federal motions. A video is one person’s account of one case. It is not a sample of results, and it is not a promise about any other case. Outcomes vary. A past result does not predict or guarantee the outcome of any other case.

What the line under each name is

Each video is short and has captions. The line under the name is a short description of the topic that person talks about. This page does not add a sentence length, a prison, a diagnosis, or a court result beyond those lines. The topics already named above are the ones the speakers cover: a stroke in federal prison, a spouse’s health, and one family’s motion after the First Step Act. The First Step Act page explains that statute. The terminal-illness page and the page on a spouse or partner who needs care explain those grounds in general. They are not descriptions of these videos.

How a federal request usually starts

The written request goes to the warden of the facility where the person is held. It should explain the extraordinary and compelling circumstances and propose a release plan: where the person will live, how they will be supported, and, when health is the reason, how medical care will be obtained and paid for (28 C.F.R. § 571.61). The motion can be filed in the sentencing court 30 days after the warden receives the request, or sooner if the Bureau of Prisons finishes its appeals. The process guide sets those steps in order. 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A) is the statute those steps come from.

Rehabilitation cannot be the only ground (28 U.S.C. § 994(t)). A sentencing change Congress did not make retroactive cannot be a reason, alone or combined with other facts (Rutherford v. United States, May 28, 2026). An argument that the conviction itself is invalid belongs in a motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, not in a compassionate release motion (Fernandez v. United States, May 28, 2026). That holding is about the conviction.

If you are deciding whether a compassionate release motion fits a federal case, tell us what happened. We will tell you whether that motion is the right next step, or whether the case needs something else.