{"id":88122,"date":"2020-07-06T10:00:55","date_gmt":"2020-07-06T15:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/compassionaterelease.com\/?p=88122"},"modified":"2020-07-27T12:42:22","modified_gmt":"2020-07-27T17:42:22","slug":"maine-federal-court-rejects-bops-role-in-criteria-for-compassionate-release","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/compassionaterelease.com\/maine-federal-court-rejects-bops-role-in-criteria-for-compassionate-release\/","title":{"rendered":"Maine Federal Court Rejects BOP\u2019s Role in Criteria for Compassionate Release"},"content":{"rendered":"
To win a motion for a compassionate release, an inmate must meet specific criteria set by the BOP. However, a new case confirms that the court does not have to agree with the prison director’s findings.<\/p>\n
Before the First Step Act, the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) determined whether a prisoner met the criteria for compassionate release. However, this system is inherently flawed. The BOP had full control of which cases were presented to the district court. As a result, the BOP routinely denied compassionate release petitions. To make matters worse, prisoners had no way of appealing these decisions.<\/p>\n
Thankfully, the First Step Act of 2018 put federal district courts in control of the compassionate release application process. As a result, prisoners may now file motions for compassionate release in court if the BOP refuses to recommend them for early release.<\/p>\n