| 56 Year Old Inmate in MCC
Must Still Exhaust Remedies After Judge Castel
Urges BOP Action
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
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SDNY COURTHOUSE,
April 6 –
James Woodson is a 56-year old
inmate in the Metropolitan
Correctional Center who has
been seeking compassionate
release under the First Step
Act. But the Bureau of Prisons
has yet to rule in any way on
his requests. Now, he has to
wait for a ruling - until the
BOP rules, see below.
On April 1
Woodon's Federal Defender
Sarah Baumgartel asked U.S.
District Court for the
Southern District of New York
Judge P. Kevin Castel to
"immediately grant Mr.
Woodson's motion to reduce his
sentence, and re-sentence him
to time served," with eight
months of home confinement
during a three year term of
supervised release.
Assistant US Attorney Louis
Pellegrino countered with a
decision by SDNY Judge Denise
Cote in US v. Monzon,
99-cr-157, that the claimed
statutory exhaustion
requirement must be "strictly
enforced."
Judge Castel reserved
judgment, indicating he would
be preparing a legal ruling
but urging AUSA Pellegrino to
find a practical solution, in
the form of a decision by the
Bureau of Prisons. Inner City
Press said it would continue
to follow this case, and it
has. Minutes ago, this:
"OPINION AND
ORDER as to James Woodson:
Woodson's motion for sentence
reduction is DENIED without
prejudice. The Clerk is
directed to terminate the
motion (Doc 44). The Court
expresses the hope that the
BOP will state its position in
a reasoned determination of
Woodson's application. If the
BOP anticipates that it will
be unable to address the
merits of Woodson's
application, it should deny
his application now and
thereby open his pathway to
seek judicial relief. For the
agency to make the advance
decision to allow the 30-day
window to run out, but not to
act to deny the application
would be irresponsible. SO
ORDERED. (Signed by Judge P.
Kevin Castel on 4/6/2020)."
So the
exhaustion requirement, since
cited by Judges Carter and
Marrero, stands. This case is
US v. Woodson, 18-cr-845
(Castel).
***
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