How Justices' Habeas Ruling Limits Compassionate Release

By Elizabeth Franklin-Best ( June 17, 2026, 5:29 PM EDT) -- On May 28, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in Fernandez v. U.S. that is surely a disappointing development for federal criminal defense practitioners and their clients. The court held that a federal prisoner who attacks the validity of their conviction must do so through Title 28 of the U.S. Code, Section 2255, the habeas statute for federal inmates, not through a motion for compassionate release under Title 18 of the U.S. Code, Section 3582(c)(1)(A)(i)....

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