The court deferred on the motion for compassionate release, instead giving the BOP until April 15 (about 20 days after the request for compassionate relief was first submitted to the prison's warden) to consider Skelos's case. The court explained that while the 30-day waiting period for exhaustion typically can be considered a futility exception to the exhaustion requirement (since it significantly accelerates the pace of judicial determination), "today’s circumstances are not ordinary. Infection from COVID-19 spreads so quickly, and, for many, carries such lethality, that 30 days can mean the difference between life and death." Ultimately, the BOP granted Skelos permission to leave prison and instead be confined at his home without requiring a judicial decision.
United States v. Skelos, No. 15-cr-00317-KMW, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 64639 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 12, 2020)
DETAILS
Decision
Date
4/12/2020
Practice Area
Criminal (Federal Charges)
Relief Requested
Release
Type of Court
Federal District Court
Location
New York
Type of Case
Individual
Case Characteristics
Elderly, Post-Conviction Detention [jail or prison], Pre-Existing Health Conditions
Release Granted
No
Compassionate Release Case
Yes
Compassionate Release Specific Characteristics
Only served a small portion of their sentence (less than 33%), Went to trial
Case Tracking Number
15-cr-00317-KMW
MORE CASE INFORMATION
Court Name
S.D.N.Y.
Decision
Motions Partially Granted
Place of Incarceration
Federal Prison, Unknown
Name of Facility
Federal Correctional Institution in Otisville, New York ("FCI Otisville")
Legal Authority
CARES Act, Pub. L. No. 116-136, First Step Act Exhaustion, First Step Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A), Other, § 2244 Habeas
Release Conditions
Home confinement for undetermined period of time
Convictions
8 counts of corruption
Case Status
Decision Made
Motions Partially Granted
The court deferred on deciding whether or not to grant a compassionate release to give the Bureau of Prisons more time to make a decision. However, a decision was to made around 20 days after Skelos first submitted his petition for compassionate release to the warden rather than the thirty-day requirement ordinarily required under the First Steps Act. Skelos has since been released into home confinement.
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., An individual does not need to “issue exhaust” (i.e., does not need to mention COVID-19 in their application to the warden in order to rely on it in the motion to the court)., Other, Court deferred the case, giving the BOP 20 days from filing of initial application for compassionate release (rather than the normal 30 day requirement).
I had to include press coverage related to Skelos's release from prison into home confinement since I could not find the relevant court filings online, which also did not detail how long home confinement is to last.
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.