October 5, 2021: COMPASSIONATE RELEASE and BOP COVID-19 BLOG

Quick Facts (Full BOP Stats can be found here) Currently positive-testing inmates: 363 (down from 455) Currently positive-testing staff: 472 (down from 476) Recovered inmates: 43,117 (up from 42,988) Recovered staff: 7,834 (up from 7,809)

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

Sheridan FCI: 56 (down from 61)

Beaumont USPI: 42 (down from 61)

Phoenix FCI: 34

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

Oakdale I FCI: 27 (unchanged)

Phoenix FCI: 27 (unchanged)

Forrest City Low FCI 16 (unchanged)

System-wide testing results: Presently, BOP has 132,007 federal inmates in BOP-managed institutions and 14,452 in community-based facilities. Today's stats: Completed tests: 122,660 (up from 122,485) Positive tests: 43,018 (up from 42,979)

Total vaccine doses administered: 228,363

Case Note: Fourth Circuit remands because district court failed to address defendant's COVID-related arguments and relied on outdated medical records...

In U.S. v. DONNIE GENE STUCKEY, JR., Defendant - Appellant. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee,, No. 20-7740, 2021 WL 4493613 (4th Cir. Oct. 1, 2021) (unpublished) (per curium), the Fourth Circuit held that the district court's failure to address defendant’s arguments regarding the risk of COVID-19, and reliance on outdated medical records, warrants reversal, explaining: "Here, the district court's explanation does not reflect that it considered Stuckey's immunocompromised status due to his Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease and his use of corticosteroids to treat that condition. See Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, COVID-19: People with Certain Medical Conditions, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/ 2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/people-with-medical-conditions.html (last visited Sept. 30, 2021) (explaining that an immunocompromised state, as well as '[p]rolonged use of corticosteroids,' can increase the risk of severe illness from COVID-19). Moreover, in reaching its conclusion that Stuckey had not shown a particularized susceptibility to COVID-19, the district court relied in part on statements in his medical records that he felt 'safe in his environment'; however, these statements were made in February 2019 and January 2020 and were not related to Stuckey's concerns regarding his susceptibility to COVID-19. Moreover, the fact that Stuckey had not previously suffered many complications from his medical conditions does not mean that he would not be at more serious risk than a person without those conditions if he were to contract COVID-19. Finally, Stuckey presented a “mountain of new mitigating evidence” that the district court did not address, including a letter from his prison counselor praising Stuckey's 'dependable,' 'conscientious,' and 'consistent' behavior and noting that inmates came to him 'for positive guidance and advice'; evidence of Stuckey's employment as the 'head orderly' in his housing unit, 'a "trusted" job position for inmates'; his prison counselor's opinion that he was 'more than prepared for society'; and documentary evidence that he had completed his GED and had successfully completed nineteen educational courses. See Martin, 916 F.3d at 396-97 (remanding for district court to provide an 'individualized explanation for why Martin's steps toward rehabilitation' did not warrant relief when she presented a 'mountain of new mitigating evidence that the sentencing court never evaluated'). We are therefore unable to conduct a "meaningful appellate review' in light of the particular circumstances of this case. See High, 997 F.3d at 189. We thus vacate the district court's orders and remand for further proceedings. We express no view as to the merits of Stuckey's compassionate release motion. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.”

Death Watch (Note: The BOP press website announcing BOP COVID-related deaths has been moved to here.) The BOP has identified a previously-tallied inmate fatality as Tammy J. Lamere, 50, of FMC Carswell, who died September 30, 2021. The inmate death toll remains at 261. Ten of these inmates died while on home confinement. Staff deaths remain at 6.