What happens if compassionate release is denied?

The possibility of compassionate release naturally brings great hope to federal prisoners suffering in the Bureau of Prisons (“BOP”). The prison environment naturally fosters significant health calamities and offers less than ideal conditions for healing.

But what happens if the district court denies compassionate release?

First, it is worth noting the standard for compassionate release. The First Step Act authorized federal prisoners to move a court for the reduction of a federal prison sentence where “extraordinary and compelling reasons warrant such a reduction” or the petitioner is at least 70 years old, has served at least 30 years in prison, and the BOP has determined that the defendant is no longer a danger to the safety of society. [1]

The “extraordinary and compelling reasons” may be a combination of factors such as

(1) medical circumstances;

(2) the defendant is at least 65 years old, experiencing a serious deterioration in physical or mental health because of the aging process, and has served at least 10-years or 75 percent of the term of imprisonment;

(3) family circumstances;

(4) the petitioner is the victim of sexual or physical abuse by prison staff while in custody;

(5) other reasons of similar gravity to the foregoing; or

(6) an unusually long sentence. [2]

The petitioner must first make the request for compassionate release to the BOP, exhaust all administrative remedies to appeal a denial, and then make the motion in court. [3]

It is worth noting the statistics.

• From 2022 through 2024, a total of 14,272 petitions for compassionate release were filed.

1,958 (13.7%) were granted and 12,314 (86.3%) were denied.

• In 2025, the figures went up just slightly: 2,719 petitions for compassionate release were filed.

391 (14.4%) were granted, and 2,328 (85.6%) were denied.

The decisions varied from circuit to circuit. The Ninth Circuit, which is over Alaska, Arizona, California, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, the Northern Marianna Islands, Oregon, and Washington, had the highest grant rate at 31.6%. By a wide margin of 95.1%, defendant-originated motions had the highest success rate compared to requests made by the BOP or the government. The top three reasons for granting compassionate were sufficient rehabilitation, serious physical or medical conditions, or unusually long sentences. By contrast, the top three reasons for denying compassionate release were the 18 U.S.C. § 3353(a) factors, insufficient rehabilitation, and the absence of extraordinary and compelling reasons given. This was followed by a failure to exhaust administrative remedies. [4]

If the district court denies compassionate release, a petitioner may appeal to the appropriate U.S. Court of Appeals. In understanding the appeal, it is first worth noting the appropriate standard of review. A standard of review may be generally thought of as a road map for how the appeals court is going to consider the issue. [5] The denial of compassionate release is reviewed for abuse of discretion. [6] You might think of abuse of discretion as the court was authorized to decide a matter in various ways and was either unreasonable or legally incorrect in its procedure. “A district court abuses its discretion if it applies an incorrect legal standard, applies the law in an unreasonable or incorrect manner, follows improper procedures in making a determination, or makes findings of fact that are clearly erroneous.” [7]

A survey of current appellate opinions shows that courts have reversed primarily where the district court did not appropriately consider the relevant law and factors. [8] However, some appellate courts have held the district court did not properly consider certain facts which would have likely resulted in the granting of compassionate release. [9] The takeaway from these opinions is that all is not necessarily lost if compassionate release is denied.

Effectively seeking compassionate release is a complicated process. If you or someone you love is in federal prison and in need of compassionate release, contact Peter Armstrong, Attorney at Law, for a free consultation today.

Citations:

1.    18 U.S.C. § 3582(c). (https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/3582)

2.    U.S.S.G. § 1B1.13. (https://www.ussc.gov/guidelines/2025-guidelines-manual/annotated-2025-chapter-1#1b113)

3.    18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1).

4.    U.S. Sentencing Commission, Compassionate Release Data Report, Preliminary Fiscal Year 2025 Cumulative Data through 4th Quarter, available at https://www.ussc.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/research-and-publications/federal-sentencing-statistics/compassionate-release/FY25Q4-Compassionate-Release.pdf.

5.    For an in-depth discussion of standards of review, consider this article from the Georgetown University Law Center: https://www.law.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Identifying-and-Understanding-Standards-of-Review.pdf

6.    U.S. v. Cook, 998 F.3d 1180, 1183 (11th Cir. 2021); U.S. v. Bass, 17 F.4th 629, 636 (6th Cir. 2021)

7.    U.S. v. Jimenez-Antunez, 820 F.3d 1267, 1270 (11th Cir. 2016).

8.    See U.S. v. Trenkler, 47 F.4th 42 (1st Cir. 2022) (remanding for consideration of the standard announced in U.S. v. Ruvalcaba, 26 F.4th 14 (1st Cir. 2022); U.S. v. Cook, 998 F.3d 1180 (11th Cir. 2021) (reversing where district court order did not reflect consideration of the applicable 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors); U.S. v. McGee, 992 F.3d 1035 (10th Cir. 2021) (reversing where the district court misunderstood its authority under 18 U.S.C. § 3582).

9.    See U.S. v. Malone, 57 F.4th 167 (4th Cir. 2023) (finding the district court failed to consider overwhelming evidence warranting compassionate release and remanding for reconsideration); U.S. v. Brown, 78 F.4th 122 (4th Cir. 2023) (same); U.S. v. Owens, 996 F.3d 755 (6th Cir. 2021) (reversing for reconsideration where district court improperly found that the disparity between Owens’s sentence and the sentence he would receive following the passage of the First Step Act was not an extraordinary and compelling reason to support compassionate release).