S. 312 would allow federal inmates sentenced before November 1, 1987, to apply for compassionate release from prison under the same terms as inmates sentenced after that date. The bill also would expedite consideration of prisoners’ motions for compassionate release by eliminating a requirement to fully exhaust all administrative means of appealing requests that have been denied by the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) and by allowing motions to be considered by federal courts.
In addition, S. 312 would make more elderly federal prisoners eligible for home confinement under the bureau’s Elderly Offender Program, which allows some elderly and terminally ill offenders who have served at least two-thirds of their sentence to complete their sentence at home or in a residential reentry center (RRC) overseen by the BOP. The bill would allow federal courts to grant motions for home confinement if an inmate has waited at least 30 days without receiving a response from the BOP.
