Pro Se Help · Free Tools
Compassionate release lets a federal court reduce a prison sentence for extraordinary and compelling reasons. This screener maps your answers to the reasons the law allows courts to consider.
Since the First Step Act, a person in federal prison can ask the court directly for compassionate release, and so can family helping from outside. The court looks for what the statute calls extraordinary and compelling reasons. The Sentencing Commission's guideline, § 1B1.13, lists the main categories, and a judge weighs them along with the sentencing factors and the person's record.
Seven questions. The result shows which categories your answers may fit, and what the process requires next. It is a screen, not a ruling. Only a court can grant release.
Your answers stay on this page. We do not ask for a name, a register number, or a facility, and nothing is stored or sent anywhere.
This screener is general information, not legal advice, and it does not predict what any court will do. Compassionate release is decided case by case under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A) and guideline § 1B1.13, and the judge also weighs the sentencing factors in § 3553(a) and the person's conduct and record. A category fitting is a reason to build the motion, not a guarantee.
The categories, the warden request, and how these motions are built, in plain language. Get the Guide
Worksheets and drafting frames for a complete filing package. Get the Toolkit
Guide and Toolkit together. Get the Bundle
Prefer email? Join the free Pro Se Help newsletter for plain-language breakdowns of federal cases and deadlines.
Pro Se Help, LLC is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice or representation. This screener is general information. Guidance checked October 31, 2026. All free tools · Compassionate Release