Originally published March 22, 2021. Statements about the law were updated in October 2026; the box below gives today’s rules.
Many people wonder whether they need a lawyer to file for compassionate release. You can file on your own, but it’s easy to hurt your own case without realizing it. The real motion below shows how.
Filing on your own vs. hiring a lawyer
These motions can seem fairly simple to write and file. You can also save thousands of dollars by doing the work yourself. The real question is whether you should.
With all the recent changes in compassionate release law, it’s no surprise that so many people want to file. Thousands of prisoners are typing away in prison law libraries, making their best case for release. With little money and plenty of time, the answer may seem easy. But remember the old saying: “a man who represents himself has a fool for a client.”
The case of Scott Faul
Take the case of Scott Faul, now 67. In 1983 he was convicted for his part in a shoot-out that left two US Marshals dead.
Given the nature of the crime, this would be a hard case for compassionate release no matter what. But the idea that Mr. Faul could win release on his own was unrealistic.
Mr. Faul’s motion starts by asking for release because he has been diagnosed with bronchitis. Given possible complications from COVID-19, that’s a reasonable place to start.
But he quickly undercuts his own argument, writing, “I will not insist that my bronchial condition, whatever it is, puts me at greater risk.” A careful compassionate release attorney would never raise a medical condition only to say in the next paragraph that it doesn’t really matter. Mr. Faul made the government’s argument for it.
If the condition was real and dangerous, the better move would have been to get a neutral outside medical expert to back it up. That would have turned his opinion into a fact. In court, facts matter, not feelings.
Keeping emotions out of the motion
By this point, Mr. Faul had already lost his motion, and he hadn’t even finished the first page. It gets worse. He next goes into a rant about the past.
It’s normal for someone convicted of a crime to have strong feelings about what happened. These are emotional, life-changing events. But there is a time and a place to express those feelings, and a compassionate release motion is never it.
Compassionate release is meant for people who deserve compassion. No one will feel compassion for a man convicted in a deadly shoot-out who, 40 years later, writes:
when I am released, I am going to retire to my farm near Harvey, North Dakota, to continue exactly from the same point which I was at in 1983 before I was unlawfully attacked by murderous thugs of the Ronald Reagan, William French Smith, Edwin Meese squad of terrorist. (Compassionate Release Motion of Scott Faul, Pg. 3)
Why this matters for your case
Scott Faul may be an extreme example of what not to do. But the same risk applies to anyone writing their own motion. When you’re this close to your own case, it’s very hard to be objective.
Courts aren’t looking for passionate speeches. They want clear, logical arguments. They want to release people who have taken real steps to improve their lives. That’s why we believe it is worth having a lawyer’s help.
Scott Faul
Article by Casey Ryan Richards of Criminal Center
Image by StartupStockPhotos from Pixabay
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