[AicapAifap] FAMM

[Alliance of Incarcerated Canadians/Foreigners in American Prisons]

	Dear Aicap,
 The saddest calls I take at the office concern compassionate release.
The most heartbreaking conversations are about refusals by the Bureau
of Prisons (BOP) to pursue early release for prisoners who are
suffering significant disability or nearing death. Time and again, I
must explain to distraught family and friends that the BOP alone has
the power to ask the court to reduce the sentence of a dying or
debilitated prisoner. 

 Why would the BOP deny a dying prisoner the chance to spend their
last days with family?  The most frequent reason the BOP gives is that
early release would "minimize the seriousness of the offense."
Basically, the BOP feels that some prisoners don't deserve to go home,
no matter how sick they are. 

 FAMM believes the judge should decide who deserves to get
compassionate release. But, if the BOP doesn't ask the court to
release the prisoner, the court cannot act — and to them, that's the
end of the road. 

 But it's not the end of the road for us. 

 At FAMM, we never stop fighting for justice.  Right now, we are
involved in a court of appeals case, Avery v. Andrews, challenging the
BOP's assumption that it can be both jailer and judge. 

 FAMM teamed up with the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil
Rights and Urban Affairs to submit a friend-of-the-court ("amicus")
brief.  Our brief explains that the BOP has exceeded the job Congress
assigned it. We describe how the BOP got into the habit of saying "no"
for the wrong reasons, and why it's time for the courts to fix this
problem. 

 We also tell the stories of people who were turned down for
compassionate release when they should have been packing for home.
These sad stories show how absurd and wrong the BOP's position is. 

 Read our brief here. I promise to keep you posted on developments in
the case. 

 Thank you for your support of our work. 

 Best,
 Mary Price
General Counsel, FAMM
1100 H Street NW | Suite 1000 | Washington, D.C. 20005 | Tel: (202)
822-6700
 FAMM © 2018 All rights reserved
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