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Compassionate release is a process by which inmates in criminal justice systems may be eligible for immediate early release on grounds of “particularly extraordinary or compelling circumstances which could not reasonably have been foreseen by the court at the time of sentencing”.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.bop.gov/policy/progstat/5050_049.pdf )〕 Compassionate release procedures, which are also known as medical release, medical parole, medical furlough and humanitarian parole, can be mandated by the courts or by internal corrections authorities. Unlike parole, compassionate release is not based on a prisoner's behavior or sentencing, but on medical or humanitarian changes in the prisoner's situation, and is found in the US both federally and in the laws of thirty-nine states. With the skyrocketing of prison populations following the mandatory minimum sentencing laws introduced in the 1990s many people have called for the expanded use of compassionate release as a "safety valve" to relieve overcrowded prison systems and reduce pressure on government budgets as well as to ease suffering of inmates and their families. Some states have recently expanded their own forms of compassionate release, as can be seen in New York’s changes to its medical parole laws to include both the terminally ill and chronically ill inmates in the absence of a prognosis of imminent death, although this has not necessarily resulted in more releases. Many who are eligible for compassionate release on grounds of terminal illness and who have applications pending die in prison before their cases are processed due to case backlogs and narrow interpretation of the law. The issue of where and how to best deliver end of life care has been compounded by the sheer numbers now incarcerated in the United States, as well as by the aging of the prison population. 〔〔〔〔〔 ==Request process== Obtaining a compassionate release for a prison inmate is a process that varies from state to state but generally involves petitioning the warden or court to the effect that the subject is terminally ill and would benefit from obtaining aid outside of the prison system, or is otherwise eligible under the relevant law. Compassionate release is most often granted to inmates with terminal illnesses that cause life expectancies of time periods less than between six and eighteen months, depending on the jurisdiction.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.bop.gov/policy/progstat/5050_049.pdf )〕 Other allowable causes for compassionate release may be medical but non-terminal, such as incurable debilitating mental or physical conditions that prevent inmate self-care or a combination of advanced age and irreversible age-related conditions that prevent functioning in a prison setting. Grounds for compassionate release may also be familial, although not all jurisdictions offer this option. Under Federal law inmates may be released to care for a minor child or debilitated spouse in the absence of other family caregivers. This is intended to be subsequent to the death or debilitation of the child’s primary caregiver in the former case or the finding of permanent mental or physical disability of the spouse in the latter. While there are clear advantages to the individual in this type of release, there are many procedural obstacles to this type of petition which lead to it rarely being granted. Federal laws governing compassionate release include 18 U.S.C. 3582(c)1(A), which came into effect on 1 November 1987 and governs those whose offenses occurred since it was enacted, and 18 U.S.C. 4205(g), the previous version, which still controls release of inmates who were convicted of offenses that occurred on or prior to that date.〔 States that offer compassionate release each have their own laws governing eligibility, and it may differ from the federal versions both in the requirements for eligibility and in the type of release that can be granted, for example medical parole rather than resentencing. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「compassionate release」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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