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May 20, 2022: COMPASSIONATE RELEASE and BOP COVID-19 BLOG


Fast Facts (Full BOP stats can be found here) Currently positive-testing inmates: 80 (up from 75) Currently positive-testing staff: 265 (up from 248) Recovered inmates currently in the BOP: 51,629 (down from 51,746) Recovered staff: 12,643 (up from 12,642)


Institutions with the largest number of currently positive-testing inmates:

Waseca FCI: 17 (up from 5)

Rochester FMC: 7 (unchanged)

Guaynabo MDC: 7

Institutions with the largest number of currently positive-testing staff:

Rochester FMC: 32 (up from 30)

Central Office HQ: 20 (unchanged)

Guaynabo MDC: 14

System-wide testing results: Presently, BOP has 138,817 federal inmates in BOP-managed institutions and 13,568 in community-based facilities. Today's stats: Completed tests: 128,719 (up from 128,718) Positive tests: 55,367 (up from 555,366)


Total vaccine doses administered: 318,184 (up from 318,008)


Case Note: Defendant's inability on home confinement to get insurance or a job is not extraordinary and compelling...


In U.S. v. TODD VANNATTA, 2022 WL 1570846 (D.S.C. May 18, 2022) (Norton, J.), the court found that defendant's inability on home confinement to get insurance or a job is not extraordinary and compelling, explaining: “[O]n or around October 13, 2021, Vannatta was transferred to home confinement, which remains his current status. Vannatta's projected release date is on or around May 29, 2022. … Vannatta argues that he has been denied access to the health insurance marketplaces due to his status as an incarcerated individual. Courts have previously denied motions for compassionate release based on an inability to obtain health insurance. See, e.g., United States v. Canada, 2021 WL 2117890, at *1 (S.D. Ga. May 25, 2021) (finding that a defendant who sought release in order to gain health insurance coverage for him and his wife had failed to show extraordinary and compelling circumstances). Similarly, the court does not find that Vannatta's purported inability to seek coverage through the marketplace between now and his release warrants the relief sought. … Next, Vannatta argues that his failure to obtain employment presents extraordinary and compelling circumstances justifying his immediate release. Vannatta is a licensed and credentialed aviation pilot. According to Vannatta, he has a “verified opportunity” to begin working as a pilot flying single-seat commercial aircraft. ECF No. 237 at 22. The job would provide him with his desired salary and the ability to obtain health insurance through the employer. Vannatta states, however, that the prospective employer has declined to allow Vannatta to start until he reaches his period of supervised release. As such, Vannatta seeks an immediate release so that he can begin working. The court commends Vannatta on his plans to work as a commercial pilot, which, as Vannatta notes, is a vocation that his probation officer has encouraged. However, the employer's reluctance to hire Vannatta based on his status—if true—does not warrant compassionate release. Based on Vannatta's representation, the availability of the job does not appear to be in jeopardy, so Vannatta should be able to accept employment when released. Moreover, Vannatta has not presented any change in circumstances that would explain why his need to be privately employed is any more urgent now than it was at the time of his sentencing. See United States v. Nevers, 2020 WL 3077034, at *7 (E.D. La. June 10, 2020) (denying the defendant's motion predicated on his need to assume a role as a caregiver because the defendant failed to indicate any “new change in circumstances” from those identified in the presentence report).”


Death Watch (Note: The BOP press website announces BOP COVID-related deaths here.) The BOP has identified no additional COVID-related inmate fatalities, leaving the total at 295. Eleven of the inmates died while on home confinement. Staff deaths remain at 7

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