COVID–19 Safer Detention Act of 2021
Bill: H.R.3669 | Sponsor: Rep. Nadler, Jerrold (D-NY)
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement

Summary:
COVID-19 Safer Detention Act of 2021
This bill expands statutory authority for federal prisoners to be released before completing their sentences or to be placed in the community to serve the final portion of their sentences.
First, the bill makes changes to the early release pilot program. The early release pilot program authorizes the Bureau of Prisons to release early and place on home confinement elderly offenders and terminally ill offenders who meet eligibility criteria. This bill
Second, the bill modifies the compassionate release process. The compassionate release process authorizes federal courts to reduce a prisoner's sentence and impose a term of probation or supervised released in certain circumstances. This 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.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``COVID-19 Safer Detention Act of 
2021''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF COVERED EMERGENCY PERIOD.

    Section 12003(a)(2) of the CARES Act (18 U.S.C. 3621 note) is 
amended--
            (1) by striking ``ending on the date'' and inserting the 
        following: ``ending on the later of--
                    ``(A) the date'';
            (2) in subparagraph (A), as so designated, by striking the 
        ``and'' at the end and inserting ``or''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(B) the date that is 30 days after the date on 
                which the Bureau of Prisons ceases modified operations 
                in response to COVID-19; and''.

SEC. 3. HOME DETENTION FOR CERTAIN ELDERLY NONVIOLENT OFFENDERS.

    Section 231(g) of the Second Chance Act of 2007 (34 U.S.C. 
60541(g)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1), by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(D) Judicial review.--
                            ``(i) In general.--Upon motion of a 
                        defendant, on or after the date described in 
                        clause (ii), a court may reduce an imposed term 
                        of imprisonment of the defendant and substitute 
                        a term of supervised release with the condition 
                        of home detention for the unserved portion of 
                        the original term of imprisonment, after 
                        considering the factors set forth in section 
                        3553(a) of title 18, United States Code, if the 
                        court finds the defendant is an eligible 
                        elderly offender or eligible terminally ill 
                        offender.
                            ``(ii) Date described.--The date described 
                        in this clause is the earlier of--
                                    ``(I) the date on which the 
                                defendant fully exhausts all 
                                administrative rights to appeal a 
                                failure of the Bureau of Prisons to 
                                place the defendant on home detention; 
                                or
                                    ``(II) the expiration of the 30-day 
                                period beginning on the date on which 
                                the defendant submits to the warden of 
                                the facility in which the defendant is 
                                imprisoned a request for placement of 
                                the defendant on home detention, 
                                regardless of the status of the 
                                request.''; and
            (2) in paragraph (5)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (A)(ii)--
                            (i) by inserting ``including offenses under 
                        the laws of the District of Columbia,'' after 
                        ``offense or offenses,''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``2/3 of the term of 
                        imprisonment to which the offender was 
                        sentenced'' and inserting ``1/2 of the term of 
                        imprisonment reduced by any credit toward the 
                        service of the offender's sentence awarded 
                        under section 3624(b) of title 18, United 
                        States Code''; and
                    (B) in subparagraph (D)(i), by inserting ``, 
                including offenses under the laws of the District of 
                Columbia,'' after ``offense or offenses,''.

SEC. 4. COMPASSIONATE RELEASE TECHNICAL CORRECTION.

    Section 3582 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (c)(1)--
                    (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by 
                inserting after ``case'' the following: ``, including, 
                notwithstanding any other provision of law, any case 
                involving an offense committed before November 1, 
                1987''; and
                    (B) in subparagraph (A)--
                            (i) by inserting ``, on or after the date 
                        described in subsection (d)'' after ``upon 
                        motion of a defendant''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``after the defendant has 
                        fully exhausted all administrative rights to 
                        appeal a failure of the Bureau of Prisons to 
                        bring a motion on the defendant's behalf or the 
                        lapse of 30 days from the receipt of such a 
                        request by the warden of the defendant's 
                        facility, whichever is earlier,'';
            (2) by redesignating subsections (d) and (e) as subsections 
        (e) and (f), respectively; and
            (3) by inserting after subsection (c) the following:
    ``(d) Date Described.--For purposes of subsection (c)(1)(A), the 
date described in this subsection is the earlier of--
            ``(1) the date on which the defendant fully exhausts all 
        administrative rights to appeal a failure of the Bureau of 
        Prisons to bring a motion on the defendant's behalf; or
            ``(2) the expiration of the 30-day period beginning on the 
        date on which the defendant submits a request for a reduction 
        in sentence to the warden of the facility in which the 
        defendant is imprisoned, regardless of the status of the 
        request.''.

SEC. 5. TEMPORARY SHORTENING OF ADMINISTRATIVE EXHAUSTION.

    Section 12003 of the CARES Act (18 U.S.C. 3621 note) is amended by 
adding at the end the following:
    ``(e) Compassionate Release.--For purposes of a motion filed under 
section 3582(c)(1) of title 18, United States Code, during the covered 
emergency period--
            ``(1) the 30-day waiting period requirement in section 
        3582(d)(2) shall be reduced to not more than 10 days; and
            ``(2) in the case of a defendant who is, according to 
        guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 
        considered to be at a higher risk for severe illness from 
        COVID-19, including because the defendant is 60 years of age or 
        older or has an underlying medical condition, such risk shall 
        be considered to be an extraordinary and compelling reason 
        under subparagraph (A)(i) of such section 3582(c)(1).
    ``(f) Nonviolent Elderly Offenders.--For the purpose of a motion 
filed under subparagraph (D) of section 231(g)(1) of the Second Chance 
Act of 2007 (34 U.S.C. 60541(g)(1)), during the covered emergency 
period, the 30-day waiting period requirement clause (ii)(II) of such 
subparagraph (D) shall be reduced to 10 days.''.
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