Judge grants release to man with HIV over COVID risk (2021)

Originally published March 30, 2021. Statements about the law were updated in October 2026; the box below gives today’s rules.

What the law says now (October 2026). A federal judge can reduce a sentence for “extraordinary and compelling” reasons (reasons that are especially unusual and convincing). You must first ask the warden in writing. You can file in court 30 days after the warden gets the request, or sooner if you finish the Bureau of Prisons’ appeals (18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A)). The judge also weighs the sentencing factors in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). See who may seek compassionate release.

Rehabilitation. By law, rehabilitation alone is not an extraordinary and compelling reason (28 U.S.C. § 994(t)). It can be weighed together with other reasons (U.S.S.G. § 1B1.13(d)).
COVID-19 and outbreaks. Today a court looks at whether the prison is affected, or at imminent risk of being affected, by an ongoing infectious disease outbreak or public health emergency, and whether the person faces a higher risk of severe illness or death that cannot be reduced in time (U.S.S.G. § 1B1.13(b)(1)(D)).

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

Court record: United States v. Williams, No. 92-cr-0178 (E.D. Wis. Mar. 26, 2021).

In March 2021, a federal judge granted compassionate release to Walter Williams, a 56-year-old man with HIV. The court found that HIV put him at risk of a severe outcome from COVID-19, and that the time he had already served was enough.

Compassionate Release Examples

This is an example of HIV-related compassionate release.

The case

On March 30, 1993, after a jury convicted Mr. Williams of four drug distribution offenses, he was sentenced to a total of 600 months in prison and five years of supervised release (supervision by a probation officer after prison). His release date was set for April 2037.

Mr. Williams, now 56, filed a motion for compassionate release with the court. He had already asked his warden twice without success.

Why the judge said yes

Mr. Williams has HIV, which raises his risk of severe illness or death from COVID-19. He was held in Kentucky. According to the CDC website, there had been 10,959 confirmed prisoner cases and 62 prisoner deaths in the state’s twenty-two correctional institutions.

The court agreed that because he is HIV positive, he faced a severe outcome if he caught COVID-19. The court was satisfied that his health situation was serious and decided that the time he had already served was a sufficient sentence. So it granted his request.

When he was released, Mr. Williams began a five-year term of supervised release. He will be encouraged to take part in the rehabilitation programs available to him.

United States v. Williams_ 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 179932 (HIV Compassionate Release Example)

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