Compassionate release is most often granted to inmates with terminal illnesses that cause life expectancies of less than six or eighteen months, depending on the jurisdiction. 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. Prisoners with illnesses such as Alzheimer's would be considered eligible for release.
