United States v. Jimison
20-60555
| 5th Cir. | Jun 22, 2021Background
- Cloist Jimison, Jr. was convicted in 2008 of being a felon in possession of a firearm and has had multiple supervised-release revocations.
- In December 2019 the district court revoked his supervised release and sentenced him to 18 months, to run consecutively to a separate 60-month sentence.
- Jimison moved for compassionate release under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A)(i) (as amended by the First Step Act), arguing COVID-19 and his family’s pandemic-related financial hardship constituted extraordinary and compelling reasons.
- He also filed a separate motion asking for transfer to home confinement due to COVID-19 but cited no legal authority for appellate relief.
- The district court denied compassionate release, acknowledging that U.S.S.G. § 1B1.13 is not binding but finding Jimison failed to show extraordinary and compelling reasons or that the § 3553(a) factors supported release.
- The Fifth Circuit affirmed the denial and denied the home-confinement motion.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether the district court erred in denying compassionate release by failing to treat COVID-19/family hardship as extraordinary and compelling | District court correctly found no extraordinary and compelling reasons and that § 3553(a) factors weigh against release | Jimison: COVID-19 and pandemic-driven family financial hardship (and courts not limited to § 1B1.13) justify compassionate release | Affirmed—no abuse of discretion; district court permissibly concluded Jimison failed to meet the extraordinary-and-compelling and § 3553(a) showings |
| Whether an appellate court may grant release to home confinement | No authority supports reducing a federal sentence to home confinement on appeal | Jimison sought release to home confinement for COVID-19-related reasons but cited no statutory or other authority | Denied—the motion for home confinement is denied; appellate relief of that form not warranted |
Key Cases Cited
- United States v. Chambliss, 948 F.3d 691 (5th Cir. 2020) (compassionate-release denial reviewed for abuse of discretion)
- United States v. Shkambi, 993 F.3d 388 (5th Cir. 2021) (district courts are not bound by U.S.S.G. § 1B1.13 when deciding compassionate-release motions)