Fernandez v. United States · ¶122

The Court's holding in this case refects an unfortunate misunderstanding of the safety-valve mechanism Congress created in 1984 and broadened in 2018. Congress designed compassionate release as a tool for preserving a modicum of mercy in an otherwise harsh sentencing system. And nothing about the text or history of the compassionate-release provision suggests that Congress meant for this discretionary second-look opportunity to be cabined in the way the majority suggests. In other words, Congress gave prisoners an equitable “out” for the extraordinary and compelling circumstance in which they might otherwise be stuck serving an unjust sentence. Ironically, then, the escape hatch the majority decries is actually § 3582(c)(1)(A)'s core mission.

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