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18 Nw. J. L. & Soc. Pol'y 1 (2022-2023)

handle is hein.journals/nwjlsopo18 and id is 1 raw text is: Copyright 2022 by Skylar Albertson Volume 18 (Fall 2022) Northwestern Journal of Law and Social Policy Do Prison Conditions Change How Much Punishment A Sentence Carries Out? Lessons From Federal Sentence Reduction Rulings During the COVID-19 Pandemic Skylar Albertson* ABSTRACT A set of motions filed during the COVID-19 pandemic challenged federal judges to consider whether they should always view the duration of imprisonment as contrasted with prison conditions as the sole determinant of how much punishment a sentence carries out. Under 18 U.S.C § 3582(c)(1)(A)(i), federal judges may reduce already imposed terms of imprisonment upon finding that extraordinary and compelling reasons warrant reductions. Prior to 2019, the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) effectively controlled the scope of a catch-all subcategory of Other Reasons justifying sentence reductions. The BOP used this authority almost exclusively for people who were in the final stages of terminal illness. The First Step Act of 2018 (FSA) amended § 3582(c) in a manner that freed federal judges to decide for themselves what types of circumstances meet the extraordinary and compelling reasons standard. The FSA also authorized people in federal custody to file motions on their own behalf, instead of permitting only the Director of the BOP to do so. Roughly a year later, the COVID-19 pandemic prompted the increased use of lockdowns and other restrictions inside U.S. prisons. Among the many thousands of people who moved for sentence reductions, several hundred argued that imprisonment with these new restrictions amounted to a greater punishment than pre-pandemic imprisonment. This Article explores the lessons that the decisions adjudicating these motions offer for the design of sentencing laws including second looks as well as efforts to increase transparency surrounding life inside prisons. Keywords: sentence reductions, prison conditions, punitive effect, lockdowns, second looks, COVID-19, First Step Act of 2018, sentencing, compassionate release * Theodore I. Koskoff Trial Advocacy Fellow, Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder PC. I wrote this Article while working as the Curtis-Liman Clinical Fellow at Yale Law School, and I am grateful to the Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization and Arthur Liman Center for Public Interest Law at Yale Law School for supporting my research. This Article would not have been possible without thoughtful feedback on paper proposals and drafts from Jenny Carroll, Adam Davidson, Fiona Doherty, Jacob Gelman, Grace Li, Marisol Orihuela, and Judith Resnik. I am also deeply grateful to Molly Brambil, Matt Choi, Jessica Kittelberger, Lilah Kleban, Allie Lee, Samantha Silberberg, Juliet Sobel, Tamara Soleymani, and Duncan Weinstein for expert editorial assistance, and to Frances Keohane for proofreading help. All errors are my own, as are all views expressed in this Article.

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