Portal:United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

“ We acknowledge that Thompson’s chronic illnesses place him at a higher risk of severe symptoms, should he contract COVID, is true for a person without these illnesses. [5] Nonetheless, as the district court noted, it is uncertain that he is at a significantly higher risk than is the general inmate population. In fact, nearly half of the adult population in the United States suffers from hypertension. [6] And roughly 12% of Americans suffer from high cholesterol. ”

“ Fear of COVID doesn’t automatically entitle a prisoner to release. Thompson can point to no case in which a court, on account of the pandemic, has granted compassionate release to an otherwise healthy defendant with two, well-controlled, chronic medical conditions and who had completed less than half of his sentence. ”

“ That is limited to two circumstances: where the defendant has either a terminal illness or a condition “that substantially diminishes the ability of the defendant to provide self-care ... .” Id.
Thompson does not assert that his ability to care for himself has diminished, much less “substantially” so. Id. To the contrary, his hypertension and high cholesterol are managed effectively by medication. Moreover, Thompson previously has reported that he suffers no lingering effects from his 2009 stroke. ”