After Judge’s Letter, at Least 22 Former FCI Dublin Prisoners Granted Compassionate Release
In May 2024, California federal District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers took the unusual step of writing a letter to numerous other judges who had sentenced women formerly incarcerated at Federal Correctional Institution Dublin and might be considering compassionate release pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A). In the letter, she described conditions at the now-shuttered women’s prison as a “dysfunctional mess” where prisoners had “limited to no access to constitutionally adequate medical and mental health care, programming, and timely administrative relief” and many were subjected to “staff sexual abuse, harassment, and retaliation by staff seeking to cover up their own misconduct.” At least 22 of the women have since been granted compassionate release.
In the letter, Gonzalez Rogers noted that she presided over a class action civil rights lawsuit filed in 2023 by FCI Dublin prisoners challenging their conditions of confinement. In addition to a week-long evidentiary hearing, she conducted a nine-hour unannounced visit to the prison. After Gonzalez granted class certification and appointed a special master to oversee the prison, FCI Dublin was abruptly closed and its prisoners sent to other prisons. [See: PLN, June 2025, p.1].
As FCI Dublin was being closed, 21 prisoners filed motions for compassionate release to Gonzalez Rogers. Because she was not the sentencing judge, she denied the motions. “However, she drafted a letter to all judges who might have occasion to review a motion for compassionate release from inmates at FCI Dublin” in which she described the conditions there and noted that prisoners incarcerated there likely served “harder time” than those at other prisons.
Former FCI Dublin prisoner Laura Russell is a typical example of the prisoners granted compassionate release. In 2023, Idaho federal District Judge David C. Nye sentenced her to 40 months for what he called “her minor role” in a conspiracy to distribute drugs and launder money taking into account her advanced age, lack of prior criminal history and medical conditions, including Meniere’s disease and hypothyroidism. She was incarcerated at FCI Dublin until it closed.
Russell’s motion for compassionate release included allegations of inadequate medical care and assault by a guard who repeatedly closed a cell door on her elbow causing permanent injury and pain. Nye noted that the court “rarely grants this type of motion. When it imposes a sentence, it expects that sentence to be served.” However, he was willing to evaluate allegations of exigent circumstances and whether compassionate release is warranted.
The court noted that U.S.S.G. § 1B1.13 has a list of five “extraordinary and compelling reasons” for granting compassionate release. Russell only argued the first (serious medical condition) and fourth (suffering abuse at the hands of an employee). The court found “evidence in the record suggests Russell’s conditions—specifically her Meniere’s disease, osteoporosis, and hypothyroidism—have deteriorated. In fact, it appears the ‘stroke-like’ episode that recently landed her in the hospital is connected to her Meniere’s disease and would likely not have occurred if she was receding adequate treatment.” Further, she was still receiving inadequate treatment at her current prison. This, combined with the staff abuse and other sentencing factors warranted compassionate release which was granted. See: United States v. Russell, USDC (D. Idaho), Case No. 4:23-cv-04156
Additional source: KTVU
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Related legal case
United States v. Russell
| Year | 2024 |
|---|---|
| Cite | USDC (D. Idaho), Case No. 4:23-cv-04156 |
| Level | District Court |
| Conclusion | Bench Verdict |