The court granted the incarcerated individual's motion for compassionate release, doing so on the basis of his pre-existing medical condition and the conditions/policies of FPC Atwater which would put the individual at risk of infection. On the issue of exhaustion, the court held that there had been exhaustion given that "he filed an application with the warden, followed up with the warden for a determination or status report, and received a generic response that did not indicate any action was being regarding his application." On the merits, the court held that while there were no recorded cases of COVID-19 at the prison facility, the policies being implemented by the BPO were not robust enough to protect the incarcerated individual given his pre-existing condition. For instance, the court noted a lack of testing (except for those showing symptoms), an inability to keep the incarcerated individual isolated, and the failure of prison officials to provide him with cleaning supplies; the court also stated that "he has not seen extra efforts of staff members making rounds to disinfect or take inmates’ temperatures to see if anyone has a fever.”
United States v. Atkinson, No. 2:19-CR-55 JCM (CWH), 2020 WL 1904585 (D. Nev. Apr. 17, 2020)
DETAILS
Decision
Date
4/17/2020
Practice Area
Criminal (Federal Charges)
Relief Requested
Release
Type of Court
Federal District Court
Location
Nevada
Type of Case
Individual
Case Characteristics
Post-Conviction Detention [jail or prison], Pre-Existing Health Conditions, Pretrial Detention [jail]
Release Granted
Yes
Compassionate Release Case
Yes
Case Tracking Number
2:19-cr-00055-JCM
MORE CASE INFORMATION
Court Name
D. Nev.
Decision
Motion Granted
Place of Incarceration
Federal Prison
Name of Facility
Federal Prison Camp - Atwater CA (FPC Atwater)
Legal Authority
Procedural Due Process (both 14th and 5th Amendments)
Legal Authority
First Step Act Exhaustion, First Step Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A), Other, § 2255 Habeas, U.S.S.G. § 1B1.13
Release Conditions
Moved to home confinement for remainder of sentence (without electronic monitoring); will be picked up by a family member to decrease possible exposure; will also have 3 years of supervised release once home incarceration ends; temporarily suspended requirement that "defendant work at least 30 hours per week at a lawful type of employment and participate in community service."
Case Status
Decision Made
Compassionate Release Exhaustion Holdingsin Federal Case
An individual can move for compassionate release after 30 days have passed from the date the application was submitted to the warden, irrespective of whether the warden has granted or denied the request.
Pre-Existing Health Conditions Notes
Unspecified Serious Medical Condition
COVID-19 Positive or Symptomatic
No
COVID-19 in Jail Prison or Detention Center
No
Litigation Database
Crowdsourced legal documents from around the country related to COVID-19 and incarceration, organized, collected, and summarized for public defenders, litigators, and other advocates. Created and managed by Bronx Defenders, Columbia Law School’s Center for Institutional and Social Change, UCLA Law COVID-19 Behind Bars Data Project, and Zealous. Mostly federal court opinions, but now expanding to states and legal filings, declarations, and exhibits.
This resource is designed to help lawyers, advocates, researchers, journalists, and others interested in challenging, remedying, or drawing attention to the grave risk that Covid-19 poses to individuals who are detained.