How the First Step Act changed compassionate release

The First Step Act of 2018 let people in federal prison file their own compassionate release motion in court. Before that, only the Director of the Bureau of Prisons could ask a judge, and the Bureau rarely did. The Act changed who can file. It did not change what the judge looks for: “extraordinary and compelling reasons,” meaning reasons that are unusual and serious enough to shorten a sentence (18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A)).

Before the First Step Act

Congress created compassionate release in 1984, but only the Director of the Bureau of Prisons could file the motion. If the Bureau said no, the person could appeal only inside the Bureau, and the court never saw the request. Families could ask the warden, but they could not take the case to the judge themselves.

What section 603(b) changed

Section 603(b) of the First Step Act (Public Law 115-391) amended the compassionate release statute. Today:

• The person can file. After asking the warden in writing, the person can file in the court that sentenced them 30 days after the warden receives the request, or sooner if they finish the Bureau's appeals, whichever comes first (18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A)). A family member or lawyer can send the warden request on the person's behalf (28 C.F.R. § 571.61(b)).
• Terminal illness deadlines. After a terminal diagnosis, the Bureau must tell the person's lawyer, partner, and family within 72 hours, give family a chance to visit within 7 days, help prepare a request if asked, and process the request within 14 days (18 U.S.C. § 3582(d)(2)(A)).
• Help for people too sick to ask. If the person cannot submit a request, the Bureau must tell their lawyer, partner, and family that they may submit one, accept it, and help prepare it if asked (18 U.S.C. § 3582(d)(2)(B)).
• Notice and reporting. Prisons must post notice that this relief exists and how to ask for it (18 U.S.C. § 3582(d)(2)(C)), and the Bureau must report to Congress every year on requests, decisions, deaths while requests were pending, and family visits it denied (18 U.S.C. § 3582(d)(3)).

What the Act did not change

The Act did not define “extraordinary and compelling reasons.” Congress left that to the Sentencing Commission (28 U.S.C. § 994(t)). The Commission's policy statement, U.S.S.G. § 1B1.13, was amended on November 1, 2023 so that it also applies to motions people file themselves. It lists medical circumstances, age-related decline, family circumstances, abuse in custody, and other reasons of similar gravity. Rehabilitation alone is not enough (28 U.S.C. § 994(t); U.S.S.G. § 1B1.13(d)). See who qualifies.

Most of the Act's other sentencing changes, such as the end of “stacked” § 924(c) sentences in section 403, don't apply to people already sentenced. Section 404 is the exception: it lets people sentenced for certain older crack cocaine offenses ask the court for a reduction. The Act also didn't create a new way to challenge a conviction.

What the 2026 Supreme Court cases ruled out

For several years after 2018, some courts used the new right to file to cut sentences because of the First Step Act's end of “stacked” 924(c) gun sentences, other sentencing changes Congress did not make retroactive, or doubts about the conviction. On May 28, 2026, the Supreme Court ruled out those arguments:

• Rutherford v. United States, 608 U.S. 454 (2026): a sentencing change Congress did not make retroactive cannot be an extraordinary and compelling reason, alone or combined with other reasons. The policy statement is invalid to the extent it says otherwise (§ 1B1.13(b)(6)).
• Fernandez v. United States, 608 U.S. 411 (2026): a claim that the conviction is invalid, such as innocence or a trial error, belongs in a motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, not a compassionate release motion.

The First Step Act still gets the person into court. The judge still needs a lawful reason, and that reason is the person's own situation: serious illness, age, a family emergency, or abuse in custody. If you are working from a motion written around 2019 to 2021, read who qualifies and the process first.

The Bureau's policy today: Program Statement 5050.51

The Bureau of Prisons now follows Program Statement 5050.51 (September 3, 2026), which replaced Program Statement 5050.50. It aligned the Bureau's categories with § 1B1.13 and eliminated the Bureau's child-caregiver, spouse or partner caregiver, and “other elderly” categories. Those changes limit only what the Bureau will bring to court on its own. The person can still file a motion, and family circumstances and age-related decline remain grounds under § 1B1.13(b)(2) and (b)(3).

Elderly Offender Home Detention is a different program

The First Step Act also expanded a Bureau program that could move certain older or terminally ill people to home detention. That is a decision by the Bureau about where the person serves the sentence, not a shorter sentence from a judge. See the Elderly Offender Program page.

If you want a lawyer to look at whether the facts fit the current rules, book a consultation.