Second Chances Resource Library

In 2016, the Council of the District of Columbia (DC Council) passed the Incarceration Reduction Amendment Act (IRAA), under which a person who has served 15 years or more in prison for an offense committed before their 18th birthday can petition the Superior Court of Washington, DC for consideration of a reduction in their sentence (this was later expanded to people who were under age 25 at the time of the crime).

Providing reentry support for the IRAA population is uniquely challenging. It requires a thorough assessment to determine whether services available in the District are sufficiently aligned with the needs of those returning to the community. To answer this question, it was necessary to hear directly from impacted individuals about the experiences faced by those who have sought or are seeking relief under IRAA to determine the gaps in supports and services and the challenges faced by IRAA returning citizens. We also spoke with reentry providers and other critical stakeholders in the District. Based on these conversations, we outline key recommendations for the DC Council, the U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO), the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), the DC Jail, business leaders, social service agencies, and community partners.

In 2012, when the U.S. Supreme Court abolished mandatory sentences of life without parole for persons who committed homicide offenses as juveniles, over 2,000 individuals across the United States were serving the sentence. To date, more than 800 juvenile lifers have been released. To better understand the experiences and needs of this population, we surveyed 112 Philadelphia-based juvenile lifers about their early-life experiences, the periods of their incarceration, and their release and reentry experiences. The majority of respondents reported relatively successful reentry experiences as measured by objective indicators such as housing and jobs. Eighty-one percent (n = 91) of respondents had secured stable housing, 75% (n = 84) were employed at least part-time, and 100% (n = 112) had been able to reconnect with 1 or more family members. Respondents rated family connections and support as critical to their successful reentry, and for most respondents (89%, n = 100) expectations of family support was well calibrated with actual support. Factors associated with perceived challenges to reentry included the number of adverse childhood events to which a respondent was exposed, age (with greater difficulties reported by respondents younger than 44 & older than 55, compared to others), physical and mental health, and the extent to which actual family support was consistent with expectations. We discuss the policy implications of our findings in light of continued trends toward decarceration in the United States and the potential that parole grants for persons serving long sentences for violent crimes may continue to increase.

Ernest Boykin was 41, not halfway through a 15-year sentence in federal prison, and COVID had been hitting prisons hard for months. He had underlying medical conditions that put him at high risk if he contracted the disease, and on lockdown, conditions inside deteriorated by the day. He applied to the warden for compassionate release and was denied. Despair would have been easy.

Even after 25 years of prison food, Lynn Reece hasn’t forgotten how to cook. Before he got in trouble, he ran a successful restaurant in Houston, The Real Meal. “It was home-cooked dishes. Everything that your mom’s going to prepare for you. Meat loaf, pot roast, chicken and dumplings, fried chicken. All from scratch. Homemade. And the little place got popular.” Business was so good that he expanded into catering.

Too many people in Arizona are serving long prison terms that don’t make communities safer. There are plenty of people locked up who do not pose a risk to public safety yet languish in prison for decades, some of them seriously ill, like Allissia Henz. Arizona should give people like Allissia and her family a real chance for relief.

In this case, the New Jersey Supreme Court held that the state Compassionate Release Statute does not require that an inmate prove that he is unable to perform any activity of basic daily living in order to establish a “permanent physical incapacity.” Rather, the statute requires clear and convincing evidence that the inmate’s condition renders him permanently unable to perform two or more activities of basic daily living, necessitating twenty-four-hour care.

This brief explains how the First Step Act’s compassionate release reform and the absence of a quorum at the U.S. Sentencing Commission made it possible for judges to decide what factors constitute “compelling and extraordinary circumstances” for purposes of granting compassionate relief. Hundreds of people serving extreme sentences have been granted early release as a result – six of whom are profiled in this issue brief – but this discretion could disappear if the U.S. Sentencing Commission doesn’t incorporate the First Step Act reforms the right way when they reconvene.

When Debra’s husband Ron died in prison, she was devastated. But then she started telling his story. She’s still in grief, but she’s channeled some of that feeling into action and advocacy.

Theirs is a tragic love story for the ages. She’s in prison, and he continues to deteriorate more each day from muscular dystrophy, at this point unable to care for himself. And the BOP wants to keep them apart—even though she meets the criteria for compassionate release.

UPDATE: After applying for compassionate release numerous times and being denied, Connie was finally released on September 19, 2019, because of the “Elderly release” provision of the First Step Act.

In September of 2020, Danica Acebedo Jucutan posted this happy message on the “FAMMilies in Action” Facebook page: “I just wanted to share that after the many nights and days of researching, crying, complaining, giving up … things got better. So don’t give up! Have faith. No matter how many people put you down, there are more people who will help you and stay by your side.”