Appeals Court Rejects Policy Change That Broadened Early Prisoner Release Opportunities

‘Congress made the change non-retroactive. No matter how well-intentioned, the Policy Statement cannot change that,’ U.S. Circuit Judge Kent Jordan wrote.

An inmate at San Quentin State Prison in California on March 13, 2019, in this stock photo. Eric Risberg/AP

A recent U.S. Sentencing Commission policy that allows judges to order the early release of some prisoners went beyond a law passed by Congress, a federal appeals court has ruled.

In the First Step Act, which former President Donald Trump signed into law in 2018, Congress enabled prisoners to petition for early release based on extraordinary and compelling reasons. In 2023, the Sentencing Commission narrowly approved a policy change allowing judges to consider a change in law when determining whether to grant petitions for early release.