Addressing Legal Aspects of Implementation Challenges from Expanded Use of Home Confinement and Compassionate Release

Combined with the COVID-19 pandemic, the First Step Act (FSA) has led to a significant increase in the number of inmates seeking early release from prison through expanded use of home confinement and compassionate release. This article highlights some of the major implementation challenges presented by the recent expanded authority under the FSA and CARES Act to release inmates early to the community, and the response of the Judicial Conference and its Criminal Law Committee, working with the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, to these implementation challenges.