The First Step Act was enacted and signed into law with bipartisan support in December 2018. The statute includes numerous sentencing reforms, including a provision that allows a prisoner to file a motion for compassionate release if he or she can demonstrate “extraordinary and compelling” reasons for such relief. Data from the United States Sentencing Commission show that from October 2019 through December 2024, judges have granted 5,547 compassionate release motions.
In 1997, in his courtroom in the Eastern District of New York, Judge Frederic Block sentenced Walter Johnson to five life sentences for robbery, cocaine possession, and witness tampering. According to a NY Times article, Johnson’s criminal misdeeds in the 1980s and 1990s included armed robberies on a bus, on the F Line of the subway, and in a church. Notably, he was a suspect in the 1994 shooting of Tupac Shakur in the lobby of the Quad Recording Studios in Manhattan.
At the time of the 1997 sentencing, Judge Block had been on the bench for under three years. In the intervening years, the First Step Act was passed and on October 17, 2024, Judge Block granted Johnson’s motion for compassionate release, writing:
“Just like prisoners who have evolved into better human beings during their lengthy periods of incarceration, judges also evolve with the passage of years on the bench. When I sentenced Johnson in 1997, I had been a judge for only two years. But judges gain insights that with the passage of time only can come with experience on the bench and their judicial maturation. Now, having been on the bench for almost thirty years, the First Step Act has given me a second chance to reconsider the sentences I imposed on Johnson 27 years ago. I will now also give him a second chance.”
Interested in hearing more about Judge Block’s reasons for granting Walter Johnson’s motion, or about the six compassionate release cases he highlights in his latest book “A Second Chance: A Federal Judge Decides Who Deserves It”? Brooklyn Law School’s Center for Criminal Justice has organized “Sentencing, Second Chances & Justice,” a conversation between Judge Block and BLS Dean David Meyer about the book and the topic of compassionate release. The event is on April 1, 2025 at 6 PM, and further details can be found here (RSVP by March 27.)
If you plan on attending the event or have an interest in learning more about the topic and Judge Block’s views, BLS Library provides the BLS community with digital access to “A Second Chance.” Use the QR code above or click here for access. The library also has print copies of Judge Block’s earlier books Crimes and Punishment: Entering the Mind of a Sentencing Judge and Disrobed: An Inside Look at the Life and Work of a Federal Trial Judge as well as other works on sentencing reform. For help accessing any of these resources, please reach out to askthelibrary@brooklaw.edu
[Note: If you are a member of the BLS community and do not have access to the NY Times articles linked to above, information on how to sign up for free access to the Times and other news publications can be found at https://guides.brooklaw.edu/news]