Reuniting Prisoners With Loved Ones

‍

Since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sidley lawyers have worked tirelessly to obtain compassionate release for medically vulnerable prisoners. The firm’s work has continued and expanded in recent years, and in 2023, the firm represented incarcerated individuals on petitions to reduce their prison sentences under both the First Step Act (for federal prisoners demonstrating extraordinary and compelling reasons for a sentence reduction) and “Second Look” statutes (for Washington, D.C. and state prisoners) due to health conditions, disparities in sentencing, family circumstances, or sexual abuse in prison. In partnership with firm clients, Sidley took on a number of cases in 2023, and several teams across Sidley’s U.S. offices helped obtain our clients’ release.

Opening Doors for Clients and Families

The results of Sidley’s work on compassionate release cases have buoyed hopes for not only medically at-risk prisoners, but also their families. After reading about one of Sidley’s prior compassionate release victories, a client’s brother contacted Sidley for help. The 45-year-old inmate was originally sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for a nonviolent crime. Four years after his sentencing, he was diagnosed with late-stage invasive cancer, and has spent the past year in severe pain and discomfort as a result of his illness and related medical complications. The Sidley team quickly filed a motion for compassionate release for the client pursuant to the First Step Act. The government responded with a brief in support, and within a week, the Middle District of Pennsylvania granted the motion in its entirety and reduced the defendant’s term of imprisonment to time served, with supervised release. The defendant was released from prison and reunited with his family, who welcomed him home with their love, care, and support.

In another case, a Sidley team — working together with the NACDL and the nonprofit organization Medical Justice Alliance — secured a victory in a compassionate release case in which the client was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for a drug trafficking offense. Our client initially connected with Sidley through our partnership with the NACDL and FAMM after the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, which had sentenced the defendant, had denied two separate motions for compassionate release that the client had filed pro se. In his latest ruling, the judge agreed with Sidley’s arguments and found that there were extraordinary and compelling reasons to warrant a sentence reduction and that the client no longer posed a danger to the community. The Sidley team secured this victory over the government’s objection, allowing our client to be reunited with his family the day after the Court’s order.

Following the result, our client’s daughter shared her thanks: “I am incredibly grateful for the effort and dedication you and your team put into getting my dad released. Today, I picked him up and he is completely overjoyed. He called me this morning, and said they were releasing him immediately. This will hopefully kickstart the process of enrolling him in Medicare. I cannot thank you enough for going above and beyond. Your exceptional work has left us forever grateful.”

Triumph After Tragedy

One Sidley team helped secure a significant litigation victory that resulted in the early release of an inmate who lost his wife while in prison. Our client was serving a 10-year sentence in federal prison for drug trafficking when his wife, who was the mother of their three minor children, was tragically shot and killed. Sidley filed a compassionate release motion on his behalf, arguing that there were extraordinary and compelling reasons for his release under the “family circumstances” prong of the First Step Act. The U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina agreed and granted the motion over the government’s opposition, reducing the client’s sentence by over two years and allowing him to return home to his children. This case was referred to Sidley by the NACDL and FAMM, who provided key support.

Our client shared his gratitude: “Thanks to the Sidley team for all of your care and support. I really appreciate all of the assistance in my compassionate release case. Thanks to your team, I’m back home to my children and family. I couldn’t have done it without your dedication and commitment to helping me. It feels so good to be free again. I highly recommend your firm! Thanks again from my kids and me.”

Relief for Young Clients Faced With Heartbreak

Among our clients are those who face grave diagnoses at a very young age. In one such case, a Sidley team represented a 28-year-old inmate who was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor while in prison and was told by prison doctors that he had only months to live. Our client was originally sentenced to three years in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to a nonviolent offense. The Sidley team quickly filed a motion for compassionate release pursuant to the First Step Act, seeking his early release. Three days after the motion was filed, the Northern District of Texas granted the motion in its entirety and reduced the term of imprisonment to time served, with supervised release. The client was reunited with his family, including his seven-year-old son.

Another client in his late 20s had been sentenced in 2019 to 96 months in a federal prison for a nonviolent drug charge. Our client suffers from a severe lung disease that required the removal of part of his lung in a major surgery he underwent while incarcerated. Since that surgery, he has suffered from infections and a significantly reduced breathing capacity due, in large part, to the conditions of his confinement. Working together with the NACDL and FAMM, Sidley filed a petition for compassionate release, which the court granted, noting the severity of his medical issues and the serious risk of death or sickness posed to him by respiratory illnesses such as COVID, RSV, and influenza. The team navigated difficult immigration issues to expedite his deportation and minimize the amount of time he spent in ICE custody, and our client has now been reunited with his family in Mexico.