This column reports on several significant representative decisions handed down recently in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Judge Frederic Block issued a memorandum explaining his intention to reduce an overly harsh sentence required as a mandatory minimum in 2011. Judge Brian M. Cogan declined to preliminarily enjoin the enforcement of City Executive Orders requiring certain indoor venues to prohibit unvaccinated people from remaining on the premises. And Judge Rachel P. Kovner dealt with a bank's claims seeking to avoid contractual obligations to an airline in light of disruptions caused by COVID-19.

Compassionate Release: 'Stacking' of Convictions

In United States v. Sessoms, 04 CR 706 (EDNY, Oct. 6, 2021), Judge Block intimated, in an "indicative ruling", F.R. Crim P. 37(a)(3), that extraordinary and compelling circumstances, including changes in the law after a Draconian sentence had to be imposed in 2011, would justify compassionate release.