Opinion
04-C-417-C.
December 1, 2004
ORDER
Petitioner Michael Richmond is a prisoner at the Federal Prison Camp in Oxford, Wisconsin. In this petition for a writ of habeas corpus brought under 28 U.S.C. § 2241, petitioner contends that the Federal Bureau of Prisons is calculating his good conduct time erroneously. He relies on White v. Scibana, 314 F. Supp. 2d 834 (W.D. Wis. 2004), in which I concluded that 18 U.S.C. § 3624(b) required the bureau to calculate good conduct time on the basis of the inmate's imposed sentence rather than the actual time he had served. He alleges that, under White, he is entitled to additional days of good conduct time.
In an order entered on November 16, 2004, I directed respondent to show cause why petitioner's petition should not be granted. In addition, I directed petitioner to submit proof that he served his petition on respondent. Petitioner submitted such proof on November 23, 2004. Now respondent has filed his response to the petition.
From the verified petition and the response, I find that petitioner was sentenced on August 16, 2001, to a 50-month term of imprisonment. Under the Bureau of Prisons' method of calculating petitioner's good conduct time, petitioner's release date is projected as June 14, 2005 and he is scheduled for transfer to a community corrections center on February 3, 2005. If his good time credit is recalculated in accordance withWhite, he will be eligible for release approximately 29 days earlier and his prerelease date may be adjusted similarly. Accordingly, I will grant the petition and order respondent to recalculate petitioner's good conduct time on the basis of his sentence.
I emphasize, however, that I cannot order respondent to place petitioner in a halfway house on a particular date. Under 18 U.S.C. § 3624(c), the Bureau of Prisons is required, when it is "practicable," to allow inmates to spend a "reasonable part" of their sentence learning to prepare for release. However, the statute grants the bureau discretion to decide how the inmate is to be prepared for release and how much time the inmate needs to prepare. Therefore, I express no opinion on the question whether or when petitioner should be transferred to a halfway house.