II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 312 

To expand eligibility for and provide judicial review for the Elderly Home 

Detention Pilot Program, provide for compassionate release based on 

COVID–19 vulnerability, shorten the waiting period for judicial review 

during the COVID–19 pandemic, and make other technical corrections. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 12, 2021 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. TILLIS, Mr. 

COONS, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. BOOKER, and Mr. WICKER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the 

Judiciary 

A BILL 

To expand eligibility for and provide judicial review for the 

Elderly Home Detention Pilot Program, provide for compassionate release based on COVID–19 vulnerability, 

shorten the waiting period for judicial review during the 

COVID–19 pandemic, and make other technical corrections. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘COVID–19 Safer De5 tention Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF COVERED EMERGENCY PERIOD. 

2 Section 12003(a)(2) of the CARES Act (18 U.S.C. 

3 3621 note) is amended— 

4 (1) by striking ‘‘ending on the date’’ and insert5 ing the following: ‘‘ending on the later of— 

6 ‘‘(A) the date’’; 

7 (2) in subparagraph (A), as so designated, by 

8 striking the ‘‘and’’ at the end and inserting ‘‘or’’; 

9 and 

10 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(B) the date that is 30 days after the 

12 date on which the Bureau of Prisons ceases 

13 modified operations in response to COVID–19; 

14 and’’. 

15 SEC. 3. HOME DETENTION FOR CERTAIN ELDERLY NON16 VIOLENT OFFENDERS. 

17 Section 231(g) of the Second Chance Act of 2007 (34 

18 U.S.C. 60541(g)) is amended— 

19 (1) in paragraph (1), by adding at the end the 

20 following: 

21 ‘‘(D) JUDICIAL REVIEW.— 

22 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Upon motion of a 

23 defendant, on or after the date described 

24 in clause (ii), a court may reduce an im25 posed term of imprisonment of the defend26 ant and substitute a term of supervised reVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:08 Feb 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S312.IS S312

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1 lease with the condition of home detention 

2 for the unserved portion of the original 

3 term of imprisonment, after considering 

4 the factors set forth in section 3553(a) of 

5 title 18, United States Code, if the court 

6 finds the defendant is an eligible elderly of7 fender or eligible terminally ill offender. 

8 ‘‘(ii) DATE DESCRIBED.—The date de9 scribed in this clause is the earlier of— 

10 ‘‘(I) the date on which the de11 fendant fully exhausts all administra12 tive rights to appeal a failure of the 

13 Bureau of Prisons to place the de14 fendant on home detention; or 

15 ‘‘(II) the expiration of the 30-day 

16 period beginning on the date on which 

17 the defendant submits to the warden 

18 of the facility in which the defendant 

19 is imprisoned a request for placement 

20 of the defendant on home detention, 

21 regardless of the status of the re22 quest.’’; and 

23 (2) in paragraph (5)— 

24 (A) in subparagraph (A)(ii)— 


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1 (i) by inserting ‘‘including offenses 

2 under the laws of the District of Colum3 bia,’’ after ‘‘offense or offenses,’’; and 

4 (ii) by striking ‘‘2/3 of the term of im5 prisonment to which the offender was sen6 tenced’’ and inserting ‘‘1/2 of the term of 

7 imprisonment reduced by any credit to8 ward the service of the offender’s sentence 

9 awarded under section 3624(b) of title 18, 

10 United States Code’’; and 

11 (B) in subparagraph (D)(i), by inserting ‘‘, 

12 including offenses under the laws of the District 

13 of Columbia,’’ after ‘‘offense or offenses,’’. 

14 SEC. 4. COMPASSIONATE RELEASE TECHNICAL CORREC15 TION. 

16 Section 3582 of title 18, United States Code, is 

17 amended— 

18 (1) in subsection (c)(1)— 

19 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

20 (A), by inserting after ‘‘case’’ the following: ‘‘, 

21 including, notwithstanding any other provision 

22 of law, any case involving an offense committed 

23 before November 1, 1987’’; and 

24 (B) in subparagraph (A)— 


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1 (i) by inserting ‘‘, on or after the date 

2 described in subsection (d)’’ after ‘‘upon 

3 motion of a defendant’’; and 

4 (ii) by striking ‘‘after the defendant 

5 has fully exhausted all administrative 

6 rights to appeal a failure of the Bureau of 

7 Prisons to bring a motion on the defend8 ant’s behalf or the lapse of 30 days from 

9 the receipt of such a request by the warden 

10 of the defendant’s facility, whichever is 

11 earlier,’’; 

12 (2) by redesignating subsections (d) and (e) as 

13 subsections (e) and (f), respectively; and 

14 (3) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol15 lowing: 

16 ‘‘(d) DATE DESCRIBED.—For purposes of subsection 

17 (c)(1)(A), the date described in this subsection is the ear18 lier of— 

19 ‘‘(1) the date on which the defendant fully ex20 hausts all administrative rights to appeal a failure of 

21 the Bureau of Prisons to bring a motion on the de22 fendant’s behalf; or 

23 ‘‘(2) the expiration of the 30-day period begin24 ning on the date on which the defendant submits a 

25 request for a reduction in sentence to the warden of 


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1 the facility in which the defendant is imprisoned, re2 gardless of the status of the request.’’. 

3 SEC. 5. TEMPORARY SHORTENING OF ADMINISTRATIVE EX4 HAUSTION. 

5 Section 12003 of the CARES Act (18 U.S.C. 3621 

6 note) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(e) COMPASSIONATE RELEASE.—For purposes of a 

8 motion filed under section 3582(c)(1) of title 18, United 

9 States Code, during the covered emergency period— 

10 ‘‘(1) the 30-day waiting period requirement in 

11 section 3582(d)(2) shall be reduced to not more 

12 than 10 days; and 

13 ‘‘(2) in the case of a defendant who is, accord14 ing to guidance from the Centers for Disease Con15 trol and Prevention, considered to be at a higher 

16 risk for severe illness from COVID–19, including be17 cause the defendant is 60 years of age or older or 

18 has an underlying medical condition, such risk shall 

19 be considered to be an extraordinary and compelling 

20 reason under subparagraph (A)(i) of such section 

21 3582(c)(1). 

22 ‘‘(f) NONVIOLENT ELDERLY OFFENDERS.—For the 

23 purpose of a motion filed under subparagraph (D) of sec24 tion 231(g)(1) of the Second Chance Act of 2007 (34 

25 U.S.C. 60541(g)(1)), during the covered emergency peVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:08 Feb 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S312.IS S312

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1 riod, the 30-day waiting period requirement clause (ii)(II) 

2 of such subparagraph (D) shall be reduced to 10 days.’’. 

Æ 


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