Fernandez v. United States · ¶102
The majority also tells only half the story when it declares that, “[f]or decades, the Sentencing Commission has tied the availability of compassionate release to a defendant's personal circumstances.” Ante, at 426. To be sure, the agency has always identified certain personal characteristics (such as “ `a serious physical or medical condition' ”). But it has also included a catchall category for any circumstances determined to be “ `extraordinary and compelling.' ” United States Sentencing Commission, Guidelines Manual Supp. to App. C, Amdt. 683 (Nov. 2008) (USSG) (effective Nov. 2006); id., Amdt. 698 (effective Nov. 2007); id., Amdt. 799 (Nov. 2016); see USSG § 1B1.13(b)(5) (Nov. 2025) (providing that “any other circumstance or combination of circumstances that . . . are similar in gravity” to the specifically enumerated ones may constitute “extraordinary and compelling” reasons for a…Read in context ›
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