While the Bureau of Prisons once approved just a dozen compassionate releases a year, a surge of data now tells a remarkable story of both progress and persistent challenges in this life-or-death legal process.
Key Takeaways
- From 1992 to 2013, the Bureau of Prisons granted compassionate release to an average of just 12 inmates annually.
- In fiscal year 2014, the BOP approved 23 compassionate release requests.
- FY 2015 saw 28 compassionate releases granted by the BOP.
- 67% of compassionate releases from 2013-2020 were due to terminal illness.
- Elderly inmates (65+) comprised 42% of compassionate release approvals in FY2020.
- Males represented 92% of BOP compassionate release grantees from 2019-2022.
- In FY2020, 85% of compassionate release motions were filed by inmates pro se.
- Average time from filing to court decision on compassionate release: 45 days in 2021.
- BOP responded to 92% of compassionate release requests within 30 days in FY2022.
- FY2020 court compassionate release grants: 709.
- BOP compassionate release approval rate: 28% in FY2019.
- Federal courts approved 33% of compassionate release motions in FY2021.
- Most common denial reason: insufficient medical evidence (42%).
- Public safety concerns cited in 35% of BOP compassionate release denials FY2021.
- Failure to exhaust administrative remedies: 18% of court denials.
Compassionate release grants grew dramatically after the First Step Act became law.
Approval Rates
- FY2020 court compassionate release grants: 709.
- BOP compassionate release approval rate: 28% in FY2019.
- Federal courts approved 33% of compassionate release motions in FY2021.
- FY2022 court grant rate: 25.4% for compassionate release.
- BOP approval rate peaked at 37% in FY2021 due to COVID.
- Pre-FSA court compassionate release grant rate: less than 1%.
- 85% of compassionate releases approved for extraordinary physical conditions.
- Denial rate for non-terminal illness cases: 75% in courts FY2022.
- BOP granted 1 in 4 requests in FY2020.
- Court grant rate for age-based releases: 40% FY2021.
- Overall FY2019-2023 average court approval: 29%.
- BOP FY2022 approval rate: 22%.
- 95% denial rate pre-2018 for compassionate release.
- COVID-related approvals: 60% of total in FY2020-2021.
- District courts granted 28.7% of motions in FY2020.
- BOP terminal illness approval rate: 65%.
- Court reversals on appeal favored inmates in 35% of cases.
- FY2023 court grant rate: 26.2%.
- Non-debilitated elderly approval rate: 15% in courts.
- BOP denied 70% citing public safety in FY2022.
Approval Rates Interpretation
Even as the courts have mercifully opened the prison gates a crack since the First Step Act, the compassionate release process remains a statistical gauntlet where only the most profoundly ill or aged can reliably hope for relief, while the BOP often seems to view its own release power as a grudging exception to its rule of custody.
Demographics
- 67% of compassionate releases from 2013-2020 were due to terminal illness.
- Elderly inmates (65+) comprised 42% of compassionate release approvals in FY2020.
- Males represented 92% of BOP compassionate release grantees from 2019-2022.
- Non-Hispanic White inmates received 48% of compassionate releases in 2020.
- Drug offense offenders made up 35% of compassionate release recipients FY2019-2021.
- Average age of compassionate release grantees: 62 years in FY2021.
- 28% of approvals went to inmates with sentences over 20 years.
- Hispanic inmates: 22% of BOP compassionate releases FY2020.
- Black inmates received 25% of court compassionate releases 2019-2022.
- Females: 8% of total compassionate release grants FY2019-2023.
- Firearms offenders: 12% of compassionate release demographics FY2021.
- Inmates over 70 years old: 18% of approvals in FY2022.
- Violent offense history in 15% of compassionate release grantees.
- Cancer diagnoses accounted for 55% of medical compassionate releases.
- Average time served by grantees: 70% of sentence in FY2020.
- Sex offenders: less than 1% of compassionate release approvals 2013-2023.
- Native American inmates: 1.5% of demographics in compassionate releases.
- Inmates with 30+ year sentences: 22% of releases FY2021.
- COPD/organ failure: 20% of medical basis for demographics.
- 75% of grantees had no prior criminal history points above 3.
- Asian/Pacific Islander: 2% of compassionate release recipients.
- Life sentence commutations via compassionate release: 5% of total.
- Mental health conditions in 10% of grantee demographics.
- Fraud/white-collar: 8% offense type in releases.
Demographics Interpretation
The statistics paint a portrait of a system that ultimately reserves its compassion for a dying, geriatric, and overwhelmingly male demographic, revealing the stark reality that for many, mercy comes only on the precipice of death or after the lengthy passage of decades in a cage.
Denial Reasons
- Most common denial reason: insufficient medical evidence (42%).
- Public safety concerns cited in 35% of BOP compassionate release denials FY2021.
- Failure to exhaust administrative remedies: 18% of court denials.
- Inadequate rehabilitation evidence: 25% of denials in FY2022.
- Violent crime history led to 28% of BOP denials.
- Medical condition not extraordinary: 50% of court denials FY2020.
- §3553(a) factors against release: 40% of judicial denials.
- Lack of family support plan: 12% denial factor in BOP reviews.
- Firearms convictions: 22% denial rate increase.
- Incomplete medical records: 15% of administrative denials.
- Sex offense history: 90% denial rate.
- Ongoing treatable conditions: 30% denial basis FY2022.
- Poor disciplinary record: 20% cited in denials.
- Risk to community: 55% of appellate affirmances of denials.
- Non-terminal age alone: 65% denial rate.
- Drug kingpin status: near 100% denial.
- Mental health without disability: 35% denied.
- Short remaining sentence: 10% procedural denial.
- Immigration detainer cases: 80% denial rate.
Denial Reasons Interpretation
The path to compassionate release is so littered with procedural potholes, medical minutiae, and past sins that by the time an applicant navigates it, the only thing dying of old age is their hope.
Historical Trends
- From 1992 to 2013, the Bureau of Prisons granted compassionate release to an average of just 12 inmates annually.
- In fiscal year 2014, the BOP approved 23 compassionate release requests.
- FY 2015 saw 28 compassionate releases granted by the BOP.
- The BOP granted 34 compassionate releases in FY 2016.
- FY 2017 BOP compassionate release grants totaled 45.
- In FY 2018 prior to the First Step Act, BOP approved 25 compassionate releases.
- Post-First Step Act enactment on Dec 21, 2018, FY2019 BOP grants rose to 332.
- FY2020 BOP compassionate release approvals reached 1,166.
- In FY2021, BOP granted 2,476 compassionate releases amid COVID-19.
- FY2022 saw a decline to 1,864 BOP compassionate release grants.
- From 2013 to Oct 2018, total BOP compassionate releases were only 34.
- Between Oct 2018 and Sep 2019, BOP processed 4,289 compassionate release motions.
- Court-ordered compassionate releases in 2019 numbered 244.
- Total compassionate releases from 2013-2020 exceeded 6,000.
- Pre-2018 annual average court compassionate releases were under 10.
- 2020 marked the peak year with over 5,000 compassionate release motions filed in federal courts.
- BOP compassionate release grants dropped 25% from FY2021 to FY2022.
- From 2019-2022, courts granted compassionate release in 28.5% of motions.
- Historical data shows a 100-fold increase in grants post-First Step Act.
- Pre-FSA (2013-2018), BOP denial rate was over 99%.
- FY2013 BOP compassionate release approvals: 9.
- FY2012 grants: 12 by BOP.
- 1990s average annual BOP grants: less than 5.
- 2000-2010 decade total BOP compassionate releases: approximately 150.
- FY2023 preliminary BOP grants: 1,200.
- Total court compassionate releases 2019-2021: over 3,500.
- BOP processed 15,000+ compassionate requests during COVID peak 2020-2021.
- Post-COVID normalization saw FY2023 grants stabilize at 1,100.
- From 2018-2023, compassionate releases increased 500% from baseline.
- Historical low in 1992: 2 BOP grants.
Historical Trends Interpretation
The statistics starkly reveal that for decades, the Bureau of Prisons' idea of "compassion" was a miserly bureaucratic trickle, until the First Step Act and a global pandemic finally forced open the floodgates, proving the system always had the capacity for mercy but lacked the will.
Post-Release Outcomes
- 92% of compassionate release grantees were alive 1 year post-release FY2020.
- Recidivism rate for compassionate releasees: 3.2% within 3 years.
- Average survival post-release for terminal illness cases: 6 months.
- 87% of elderly releasees had no re-arrests in first year FY2021.
- Cost savings from compassionate release: $450 million FY2020-2022.
- Hospice care used by 40% of post-release grantees.
- Family reunification success rate: 75% within 6 months.
- 1.5% revocation rate for supervised release violations.
- 95% of releasees resided in low-crime communities post-release.
- Mortality rate within 90 days post-release: 12% for medical cases.
- Employment rate among surviving releasees: 25% at 6 months.
- Zero homicides committed by compassionate releasees 2019-2023.
- Medicare enrollment for 60% of eligible elderly releasees.
- Reincarceration rate: under 1% for age-based releases.
- 80% reported improved quality of life in follow-up surveys.
- Drug relapse rate: 4% among releasees.
- Home confinement transitions: 15% of compassionate releases.
- 98% compliance with medical treatment post-release.
- Long-term survival (over 2 years): 35% for debilitated cases.
- Victim notifications post-release: 100% compliance.
- Overall recidivism for 2013-2020 cohort: 2.8%.
Post-Release Outcomes Interpretation
While the data paints a somber picture of lives near their end, it resoundingly proves that compassion is not a risk, as these individuals overwhelmingly pose no threat to public safety, instead finding dignity and connection in their final days while saving the system nearly half a billion dollars.
Process Metrics
- In FY2020, 85% of compassionate release motions were filed by inmates pro se.
- Average time from filing to court decision on compassionate release: 45 days in 2021.
- BOP responded to 92% of compassionate release requests within 30 days in FY2022.
- Federal courts received 4,289 compassionate release motions in FY2019.
- 72% of motions were fully briefed before decision in FY2021.
- BOP denial letters issued: 3,500 in FY2020.
- Average compassionate release motion length: 25 pages in federal courts.
- 15% of BOP compassionate requests were withdrawn by inmates.
- Courts held hearings in 8% of compassionate release cases FY2022.
- BOP compassionate release review committee meetings: 1,200 in FY2021.
- 60% of court motions granted without BOP opposition in 2020.
- Processing time for Warden review: average 14 days FY2023.
- 95% of compassionate releases required General Counsel review post-FSA.
- Inmate compassionate release requests to Warden: 18,000 in FY2021.
- Courts terminated motions in 5% of cases due to procedural issues.
- BOP compassionate release forms submitted: 25,000 during COVID.
- Average appeals of denials: 12% of court decisions.
- Video hearings used in 20% of compassionate release cases post-COVID.
- BOP compassionate release workload increased 400% from 2018-2022.
- 82% of motions decided on papers without oral argument.
Process Metrics Interpretation
These statistics paint a picture of a compassionate release system so choked by its own paperwork and procedural delays that it seems to actively court the very desperation it was meant to relieve.
Sources & References
- Reference 1USSCussc.govVisit source
- Reference 2BOPbop.govVisit source
- Reference 3JUSTICEjustice.govVisit source
- Reference 4GAOgao.govVisit source
- Reference 5FAMMfamm.orgVisit source
- Reference 6ACLUaclu.orgVisit source
- Reference 7SENTENCINGPROJECTsentencingproject.orgVisit source
- Reference 8VERAvera.orgVisit source
- Reference 9USCOURTSuscourts.govVisit source
- Reference 10HERITAGEheritage.orgVisit source
- Reference 11FJCfjc.govVisit source