Federal compassionate release eligibility rules

You or someone you love may qualify for compassionate release if there is a serious reason tied to the person's own life: a terminal or serious illness, age with failing health, a family emergency, or abuse in prison. A federal judge can then shorten the sentence if three things are true. There are extraordinary and compelling reasons (the law's words for reasons that are unusual and serious). The reduction fits the policy statement written by the U.S. Sentencing Commission. And the usual sentencing factors in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a), like the crime and public safety, still allow it (18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A)).

The list of qualifying reasons is in U.S.S.G. § 1B1.13(b), as amended November 1, 2023. Each ground is below, checked against the official text on ussc.gov. For an overview of how the whole process fits together, see federal compassionate release.

What the Supreme Court decided on May 28, 2026

On the same day, the Court decided Rutherford v. United States and Fernandez v. United States. Compassionate release still exists. But two kinds of arguments no longer work.

Rutherford, 608 U.S. 454 (2026): Sometimes Congress lowers a sentence for future cases but does not make the change retroactive (it does not apply to people already sentenced). That gap between an old sentence and a new one cannot be an extraordinary and compelling reason — not by itself, and not combined with other reasons. The Court said the Commission's 2023 rule is invalid to the extent it says otherwise.

Fernandez, 608 U.S. 411 (2026): If the real argument is that the conviction is wrong — for example, innocence or a trial error — it does not belong in a compassionate release motion. It belongs in a 2255 motion (a request under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 asking the judge to throw out a conviction or sentence because something went legally wrong).

The grounds a court can consider under § 1B1.13(b)

Extraordinary and compelling reasons exist under any of these circumstances, or a combination of them.

(1) Medical circumstances

• (A) Terminal illness: a serious and advanced illness with an end-of-life trajectory. No specific life expectancy is required. Examples in the rule include metastatic solid-tumor cancer, ALS, end-stage organ disease, and advanced dementia. See terminal illness.
• (B) Serious condition or decline: a serious physical or medical condition, a serious functional or cognitive impairment, or worsening health because of aging, that substantially diminishes the person's ability to care for themselves in prison and from which they are not expected to recover. See serious illness or disability.
• (C) Care not being provided: a condition that needs long-term or specialized medical care that is not being provided, without which the person is at risk of serious decline or death.
• (D) Outbreaks and emergencies: the prison is affected, or at imminent risk of being affected, by an ongoing infectious disease outbreak or a declared public health emergency; the person's own health and custody put them at higher risk of severe illness or death; and that risk cannot be reduced in time. See COVID-19 and compassionate release.

(2) Age

The person is at least 65, is experiencing a serious deterioration in physical or mental health because of aging, and has served at least 10 years or 75 percent of the sentence, whichever is less. See compassionate release for older prisoners. Separately, the statute itself covers people 70 or older who have served 30 years of a sentence imposed under 18 U.S.C. § 3559(c), if the Bureau of Prisons finds they are not a danger (§ 3582(c)(1)(A)(ii)).

(3) Family circumstances

• (A) The caregiver of the person's minor child, or of an adult child who cannot care for themselves because of a disability or medical condition, has died or is incapacitated. See when a child's caregiver dies or can't go on.
• (B) The person's spouse or registered partner is incapacitated, and the person would be the only available caregiver.
• (C) The person's parent is incapacitated, and the person would be the only available caregiver. This was added in 2023. See when a spouse, partner or parent needs care.
• (D) A similar situation involving another immediate family member (including a grandchild, grandparent, or sibling) or someone with a similar relationship, when the person would be the only available caregiver.

(4) Victim of abuse in custody

While serving the sentence, the person was a victim of sexual abuse involving a “sexual act” (as defined in 18 U.S.C. § 2246(2)), or of physical abuse resulting in serious bodily injury, committed by or at the direction of a correctional officer, a Bureau of Prisons employee or contractor, or anyone else with custody or control over the person. The abuse generally must be established by a criminal conviction, a finding or admission of liability in a civil case, or a finding in an administrative proceeding, unless those proceedings are unduly delayed or the person is in imminent danger.

(5) Other reasons

Any other circumstance, or combination of circumstances, that alone or together with the reasons above is similar in gravity to them.

(6) Unusually long sentence, and what remains after Rutherford

As written, (b)(6) lets a court consider a change in the law if the person received an unusually long sentence, has served at least 10 years, and the change would produce a gross disparity with the sentence likely to be imposed today. Rutherford held the policy statement invalid to the extent it lets a change Congress did not make retroactive count, alone or combined with other reasons. That was the main use of (b)(6), so it offers little today. As of November 2026, the Commission has not amended (b)(6); the guideline amendments that took effect November 1, 2026 changed only wording elsewhere in § 1B1.13. See can a long sentence be a reason for compassionate release?

The other parts of § 1B1.13: (c), (d) and (e)

• (c) Changes in law. Apart from (b)(6), a change in the law, including a Guidelines amendment that was not made retroactive, cannot be used to decide whether an extraordinary and compelling reason exists. If a reason exists on other grounds, the rule says a change in the law may be considered in deciding how much to reduce the sentence. Rutherford addressed whether a change in law can make someone eligible; it did not rule on this last sentence.
• (d) Rehabilitation. Rehabilitation alone is not an extraordinary and compelling reason (28 U.S.C. § 994(t)). It can be considered together with other circumstances.
• (e) Foreseeability. A reason does not have to be unforeseen at sentencing. The fact that the judge could have known about it then does not rule it out.

Fitting one of these grounds is a start, not a yes. The judge still decides whether the facts are extraordinary and compelling, whether the person is a danger to others, and how the sentencing factors weigh. For a short summary of the whole motion, see Criminal Center's overview of compassionate release from federal prison.

A good prison record helps, but it is not enough alone

Classes, jobs, and a clean record can help a motion. They cannot be the only reason. Congress says so in 28 U.S.C. § 994(t), and the Commission repeats it in U.S.S.G. § 1B1.13(d). Rehabilitation can still count together with other reasons.

What this is not

• Not a second appeal
• Not a substitute for a 2255 motion or a 2241 petition
• Not a way to get the benefit of a sentencing change Congress did not make retroactive
• Not available for a state sentence

If the real problem is that the conviction is wrong, or that a newer law would mean less time, this is the wrong motion. Criminal Center's page on 2255 motions to challenge a federal conviction or sentence explains that route. We'll tell you that in the consultation, and point you to what fits.

The Bureau of Prisons' rules: Program Statement 5050.51

The Bureau of Prisons decides whether it will file a motion itself under its own policy, Program Statement 5050.51, dated September 3, 2026. It replaced Program Statement 5050.50, which is no longer current. The warden reviews the written request first. Under Program Statement 5050.51, the Bureau considers:

• Medical circumstances (section 4): terminal medical condition, debilitated medical condition, elderly inmates with medical conditions (65 or older, the lesser of 10 years or 75 percent served, and serious age-related decline), infectious disease, and other extraordinary medical circumstances.
• Age (section 5): “new law” and “old law” elderly inmates who are 70 or older and have served 30 years or more.
• Sexual abuse and physical abuse (sections 6 and 7): substantiated abuse by a Bureau employee, contractor, or volunteer.

For every request, the Bureau also weighs factors such as the offense, criminal history, victim comments, conduct in prison, time served, current age, age and health at the time of the offense and sentencing, release plans, and whether release would pose a danger (section 9). People in a halfway house or on home confinement can apply too (section 3).

Where the Bureau's rules are narrower than § 1B1.13

• Program Statement 5050.51 eliminated the Bureau's child-caregiver and spouse or registered partner caregiver categories, and it has no category for an incapacitated parent. Family circumstances can still support a court motion under § 1B1.13(b)(3).
• It eliminated the Bureau's category for elderly people who had served a set portion of the sentence without a medical condition. In court, age is still a ground under § 1B1.13(b)(2) when there is a serious age-related decline in health.
• It has no general “other reasons” category like § 1B1.13(b)(5).

The Bureau's rules control only whether the Bureau files a motion. They do not limit what the judge can consider when the person in prison files. Either way, the process starts with a written request to the warden. Since the First Step Act, you can then go to court once the warden has had the request for 30 days, or sooner if the Bureau's appeals are finished.

Sample requests for each ground

These sample letters were first published in 2018 under the Bureau's old categories. Use them for structure only, and check each one against the current rules above. The child-caregiver, spouse, and older-person-without-a-medical-condition samples follow Bureau categories that Program Statement 5050.51 eliminated; those situations now go to the judge under § 1B1.13(b)(2) or (b)(3). For how to use them, see compassionate release examples and sample petitions.

• Terminal illness
• Serious medical condition
• Age 65 or older with a medical condition
• Age 70 or older with 30 years served
• Older person without a medical condition (old Bureau category)
• Child's caregiver died or incapacitated
• Spouse or registered partner incapacitated