Federal Sentencing & Compassionate Release
Providing extensive and innovative resolutions for sentencing hearings and the mitigation of sentences.
Writing for Sentencing Success
Mr. Dowling communicates his clients’ interests through strong legal writing. Excellent writing and communication skills are perhaps most important in the context of federal sentencing—where judges have massive discretion. And in the federal system, because over 90% of defendants face sentencing, the true battle is in this phase.
At sentencing, there is no limit on the information a judge can consider in terms of the defendant’s background, character, and conduct. This rule allows skillful defense attorneys to leverage the most favorable aspects of a person and his life—even if those things have nothing to do with the crime—to persuade a judge to impose a more lenient sentence.
But the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines also call for enhanced punishment based on the circumstances of the offense. For example, in a firearms case, the baseline sentence may be higher if the firearm had a magazine holding more than 15 rounds; in a pornography case, the baseline sentence may be higher if the offense involved a computer; and in a drug case, the baseline sentence may be higher if the offense involved a firearm. Mr. Dowling uses his writing and analytical skills to develop creative arguments against applying what are often arbitrary sentencing enhancements.
Mr. Dowling has authored dozens of sentencing memoranda filed in federal courts across the nation on behalf of clients convicted of both heinous crimes and white collar crimes. Two of his essays on federal sentencing have been published in criminal defense newsletters:
John J. Dowling III., Circuit Split Deepens Over Whether Inchoate Drug Crimes Trigger Career Offender Enhancement, NDNY Fed. Ct. Bar Ass’n (newsletter) (2020), available here.
John J. Dowling III., U.S. Supreme Court Cabins Sentencing Courts’ Deference to Sentencing Commission, Arresting Developments at 13 (newsletter) (Fall 2019), available here.
Compassionate Release, Sentence Reduction, and Home Confinement
Compassionate Release
Compassionate release refers to a federal statute that authorizes a court to modify a defendant’s sentence based on extraordinary and compelling circumstances. This mechanism may be available after the defendant has already been sentenced and has served a certain portion of his time. Although an uphill battle, this strategy can work in the appropriate case.
In 2020, working under the supervision of another attorney, Mr. Dowling successfully drafted a motion for compassionate release, securing the client’s “immediate” release from federal prison. In granting the motion, the federal judge wrote that “the Bureau of Prisons is ordered to immediately release [the defendant] from custody.” Mr. Dowling coordinated with the Bureau of Prisons to have the client on a plane the next day and returned to his family.
Home Confinement
Closely related to compassionate release is home confinement. The difference, however, is that federal courts generally cannot amend a defendant’s sentence from prison to home confinement—only the Bureau of Prisons can do it. Nevertheless, Mr. Dowling can work with the client to maximize his chances of persuading the Bureau to select him for home confinement.
