In United States v. Aruda, --- F.3d ---, No. 20-10245 (9th Cir. 2021), the Court joined its sister circuits to conclude the current version of § 1B1.13 is not an “applicable policy statement[] issued by the Sentencing Commission” for motions filed by a defendant under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A).
The Court reversed the district court's denial of Aruda's motion for compassionate release noting, "after the district court’s decision here, five other circuits have addressed this issue and have unanimously held that U.S.S.G. § 1B1.13 only applies to § 3582(c)(1)(A) motions filed by the BOP Director, and does not apply to § 3582(c)(1)(A) motions filed by a defendant."
"As explained by the Fourth Circuit, '[t]here is as of now no ‘applicable’ policy statement governing compassionate-release motions filed by defendants under the recently amended § 3582(c)(1)(A), and as a result, district courts are ‘empowered . . . to consider any extraordinary and compelling reason for release that a defendant might raise.'"
