How the Sentencing Commission shapes release policy

What does the Sentencing Commission do here?

Congress told the U.S. Sentencing Commission to describe what counts as “extraordinary and compelling reasons” — reasons unusual and serious enough to shorten a federal sentence (28 U.S.C. § 994(t)). The Commission's answer is U.S.S.G. § 1B1.13. A judge's reduction under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A) must be consistent with applicable policy statements of the Commission. Fitting a listed category is not a promise of release. The judge still weighs the sentencing factors in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a).

The Commission is an independent agency in the judicial branch. It writes the federal Sentencing Guidelines and policy statements like § 1B1.13. It does not decide individual cases, and it cannot force the Bureau of Prisons to file a motion. Only a federal judge can order the reduction. The Bureau can file the motion, or the person in prison can, 30 days after the warden receives their written request (or sooner if they finish the Bureau's appeals). That right to file came from the First Step Act of 2018; see how the First Step Act changed compassionate release.

How § 1B1.13 evolved

For years the policy statement spoke only to motions the Bureau Director filed. Amendments that took effect November 1, 2016, broadened the listed criteria after public testimony and Inspector General findings that the Bureau was not using its filing power as Congress intended (DOJ OIG Rep. I-2013-006). The 2016 version grouped reasons under medical condition, age, family circumstances, and other reasons, and its commentary encouraged the Director to file when the facts fit.

The First Step Act let people file their own motions, but the text of § 1B1.13 still referred only to Bureau motions. Courts split on whether the statement bound judges on defendant-filed motions. On November 1, 2023, Amendment 814 rewrote § 1B1.13 so that it expressly applies to both kinds of motions and listed six kinds of reasons in § 1B1.13(b). A small wording change (calling the agency the “Federal Bureau of Prisons”) took effect November 1, 2026; it does not change the substance of those categories.

What § 1B1.13(b) lists today

The current statement covers medical circumstances (terminal illness; serious conditions that limit self-care; needed care the prison is not providing; public-health risk), age (65 or older with serious age-related decline and enough time served), family circumstances (caregiver death or incapacitation; only available caregiver for a spouse, partner, parent, or similar family member), abuse in custody by staff, other reasons of similar gravity, and an unusually-long-sentence provision that the Supreme Court later limited. Rehabilitation while in prison cannot be the only reason (28 U.S.C. § 994(t); U.S.S.G. § 1B1.13(d)). Category-by-category detail is on who may qualify and on statutes, regulations, and policy.

What the Supreme Court held in 2026

In Rutherford v. United States, 608 U.S. 454 (May 28, 2026), the Court held that a sentencing change Congress did not make retroactive cannot be an extraordinary and compelling reason, alone or combined with other reasons, and that § 1B1.13 is invalid to the extent it says otherwise — including § 1B1.13(b)(6). In Fernandez v. United States, 608 U.S. 411 (May 28, 2026), the Court held that a claim the conviction is invalid belongs in a motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, not a compassionate release motion. Those decisions leave the Commission's medical, age, family, abuse, and similar-gravity categories as the core framework judges still apply.

How this relates to Bureau policy

The Bureau's current policy, Program Statement 5050.51 (September 3, 2026), overlaps with § 1B1.13 but is not identical. It dropped the Bureau's own child-caregiver, spouse-caregiver, and “other elderly” tracks. That limits only what the Bureau will bring to court. On a motion the person files, the judge applies the statute and § 1B1.13, not the Bureau's internal list. Family and age grounds under § 1B1.13(b)(2) and (b)(3) remain available even when the Bureau declines to file.

What the Commission publishes

Each year the Commission releases data on compassionate release motions decided by federal judges. Our page on fiscal year 2025 statistics explains one report. The Commission does not decide individual motions; it describes typical reasons judges may consider under § 1B1.13.

If you want a lawyer to review whether the facts fit the current statement, Request a consultation.