PDF Compassionate Release Best Practices
The Medical Justice Alliance is a non-profit organization that mobilizes physicians who volunteer to protect the rights of those who are incarcerated. As physicians working on compassionate release cases, they recommend these best medical practices that should be adopted nationwide. Specifically, they make recommendations regarding:
- Qualifying conditions, in particular how to define “terminal illness” and “significant disability/permanent incapacitation.”
- Broadening the categories of people who can initiate review, and in particular providing physicians in the community a clear mechanism for initiating a compassionate release application.
- Establishing standards for written decisions and appeals