A jail bus is generally the last technique of transportation for federal prisoners who … [+]
When can an eligible prisoner begin collecting credits under the First Step Act (FSA)?
It looks as if a straightforward query, and the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) has determined that the prisoner can begin accruing points once they’re of their assigned facility. For prisoners who self-turn themselves into prison (a lot of these are low or minimum security prisoners), points begin accruing on the day of arrival on the prison. However, some prisoners are remanded on the time of sentencing after which transferred to their assigned facility. This process can take months, as prisoners must undergo detention centers and county jails until they receive their final task. Their arrival at their final assigned facility is totally out of their control.
Under the First Step Act, the BOP first measures a prisoner’s risk for recidivism and violence, this known as a PATTERN rating. This is completed once the prisoner is of their assigned facility. To be eligible for this system’s sentence reduction, the prisoner’s PATTERN rating should be either minimal or low. Additionally, if the prisoner is eligible for FSA credits to cut back their sentence (note: 68 offenses are excluded), he/she will be able to earn 10 days of FSA Earned Time Credits for each 30 days in this system. After the prisoner’s second PATTERN rating, typically 6 months after being admitted to prison, he/she will be able to earn as much as 15 days of FSA Earned Time Credits. This could make an enormous difference in when the person returns to society, by weeks, months, and years. It’s significant.
Some prisoners consider that credits should only be applied from the day of their conviction, which is the official start of their sentence. However, the BOP has stated that credits can’t be applied until the prison is in the ability assigned to it. This poses an issue for some prisoners because they might be in custody on the time of sentencing or already being held in a jail without bail until the sentencing is announced. Once the sentence is imposed, the BOP must determine a security level and prison to assign to. Once this is set, it might take weeks or months to find out the route and schedule for transferring the prisoner, sometimes across the country. This leaves these prisoners with no likelihood of receiving FSA credits to cut back their sentence. Cases difficult the BOP’s position are brought in federal courts, and a few are successful, with judges granting these credits. Despite these successes, the BOP insists on not awarding these credits to other prisoners and has not made this a part of its policy statement.
A prisoner, Austen Yufenyuy who was serving time on the Federal Penitentiary in Berlin, New Hampshire, challenged the BOP’s rule that FSA credits should not applied until the prisoner arrives at the ability. Yufenyuy was sentenced and spent months in transit before arriving at his assigned facility, and the BOP denied him credit for the time he spent traveling from the courthouse to his final assigned facility.
When Yufenyuy arrived at FCI Berlin, he was baffled as to why he didn’t receive FSA time credits for the time he spent in federal custody before arriving at his assigned facility. Yufenyuy filed a lawsuit in New Hampshire claiming his civil rights were being violated, and on March 3, 2023, United States Magistrate Judge Andrea K. Johnstone (District of New Hampshire) agreed and ordered that these FSA Earned Time Credits that occurred through the transport were to be awarded to Yufenyuy. Soon after, Yufenyuy was released from the BOP. The BOP gave Yufenyuy his FSA points and he was subsequently released from FBI Berlin. However, the BOP never challenged the judge’s decision on appeal and seemed that this ruling would apply to all prisoners. However, this didn’t occur.
Inmates still challenge this practice in various district courts across the country (cases are heard within the district where the inmate is held), sometimes winning, sometimes losing.
A case from the Federal District of Massachusetts (Vitaly Borker v. Warden Bowers, Case No. 1:24-cv-10045-LTS) was recently (May 2024) decided in Borker’s favor by U.S. District Judge Leo T. Sorokin. Borker claimed that he must have received FSA credits from the time of his conviction on April 28, 2023, until his arrival at his assigned facility (FMC Devens just outside of Boston, MA). The BOP stated that the appliance needs to be denied because Borker never successfully participated in FSA programs. Judge Sorokin dissented, ruling, “This position amounts to an evasion of the clear language of the FSA.”
Sorokin continued: “The FSA requires that [Borker] may receive time credits when his sentencing is entered (since he’s then already “in custody awaiting transport” to a chosen facility), however the BOP’s regulation prevents him from receiving such credits until his transport is complete and he arrives on the designated facility. This violates Congress’s order, and the BOP cannot accomplish that.” The order The BOP was granted the correct to award him all of his FSA credits from the date of his conviction, affecting 1000’s of federal prisoners and saving tens of millions of dollars in costs, something the FSA must have done anyway.
These cases could find yourself within the Supreme Court, especially if the BOP appeals the choices if it doesn’t agree. The BOP should appeal the ruling in order that its interpretation of the FSA is more transparent, which is a challenge for the BOP. Currently, prisoners review cases like this one and submit administrative remedies within the hope that the BOP will grant the credits, as some district judges have ordered. These are denied every day, and only those prisoners who’ve the financial means to take their case to court receive the credits if the judge agrees. Once again, those that are poor, uneducated, or disadvantaged are left empty-handed.
This is a chance for the BOP to make a straightforward policy change by allowing prisoners to officially begin accruing FSA points simply by utilizing the date of conviction moderately than the date they arrive at their assigned facility.
