431 F.3d 180 | 5th Cir. | 2005
Lead Opinion
In this habeas corpus proceeding, we must determine whether a federal statute governing credit for good conduct unambiguously directs how that credit is to be calculated and applied.
I
Ellen Jeanette Moreland was convicted in a federal district court in Wisconsin of conspiring to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, a violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846. She was sentenced to 210 months (17.5 years) imprisonment and five years of supervised release. Moreland had served 157 days in pretrial detention before she was transferred to the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ custody on January 25, 1991, and absent any good-conduct credit, More-land’s sentence would have been completed on February 18, 2008.
The Bureau determined that during each year of her imprisonment, Moreland “displayed exemplary compliance with institutional disciplinary regulations”
[A] prisoner who is serving a term of imprisonment of more than 1 year[,] other than a term of imprisonment for the duration of the prisoner’s life, may receive credit toward the service of the prisoner’s sentence, beyond the time served, of up to 54 days at the end of each year of the prisoner’s term of imprisonment, beginning at the end of the first year of the term, subject to determination by the Bureau of Prisons that, during that year, the prisoner has displayed exemplary compliance with institutional disciplinary regulations. Subject to paragraph (2), if the Bureau determines that, during that year, the prisoner has not satisfactorily complied with such institutional regulations, the prisoner shall receive no such credit toward service of the prisoner’s sentence or shall receive such lesser credit as the Bureau determines to be appropriate .... [Cjredit for the last year or portion of a year of the term of imprisonment shall be prorated and credited within the last six weeks of the sentence.4
The Bureau calculated Moreland’s credit by deducting 54 days from her sentence at the end of each year she served. By the time Moreland had served fifteen years, less than one year of her sentence remained. The Bureau then prorated Moreland’s good-conduct credit for the remainder of her sentence and projected her release date as November 17, 2005, based on 823 days of good-conduct credit, assuming continued exemplary behavior.
Moreland filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241, contending that the Bureau had improperly calculated her good-conduct credits. Moreland asserted that she is entitled to 54 days of good-conduct credit for each year or partial year of her 17.5-year sentence, a total of 945 days of credit (54 days x 17.5 years = 945 days). She argued that at the end of her first year in prison,
The disti’ict court agreed with Moreland and directed the Bureau to “calculate her Good Conduct Time under 18 U.S.C. § 3624(b)(1) so that, for each year of the sentence imposed, she serves 311 days of actual time and earns 54 days of credit that vests immediately.” The Bureau complied. It subsequently transferred Moreland from the Federal Prison Camp — Bryan, Texas where she had been confined, to the Chicago Community Confinement Center for the remainder of her sentence, in order to comply with 18 U.S.C. § 3624(c), which requires the Bureau to “assure that a prisoner serving a term of imprisonment spends a reasonable part, not to exceed six months, of the last 10 per centum of the term to be served under conditions that will afford the prisoner a reasonable opportunity to adjust to and prepare for the prisoner’s re-entry into the community.”
II
As a preliminary matter, Moreland contends that the Bureau and the director of the Bureau were not her immediate custodians when she sought habeas relief, and although she named them as parties, they must be dismissed from the case. That would leave the warden of the Bryan facility as the only proper party, Moreland asserts, and since that warden no longer has custody over her because she was transferred to Illinois, Moreland argues that this case must be dismissed. We disagree.
Moreland filed her petition for writ of habeas corpus in the district in which she was confined as required by 28 U.S.C. § 2241(d) and named as a respondent the warden of the facility in which she was confined.
Moreover, whether the Bureau and the director of the Bureau should have been joined as parties raises questions of personal jurisdiction, not subject-matter jurisdiction.
Finally, Moreland contends that this case is moot since she has been released from prison. As noted above, the Bureau intends to return Moreland to community confinement to serve the remainder of her term if it prevails in this appeal. Therefore, the case is not moot.
Ill
Moreland contends and the district court held that a prisoner may earn up to 54 days of credit for each year or partial year of the sentence imposed. As discussed above, the district court multiplied Moreland’s 17.5-year sentence by 54 days and ordered that she be given 945 days of credit, directing that each year of her sentence be reduced to 311 days.
The starting point of our analysis is the statute itself:
(a) Date of release. — A prisoner shall be released by the Bureau of Prisons on the date of the expiration of the prisoner’s term of imprisonment, less any time credited toward the service of the prisoner’s sentence as provided in subsection (b) ....
(b) Credit toward service of sentence for satisfactory behavior.—
(1) Subject to paragraph (2), a prisoner who is serving a term of imprisonment of more than 1 year[,] other than a term of imprisonment for the duration of the prisoner’s life, may receive credit toward the service of the prisoner’s sentence, beyond the time served, of up to 54 days at the end of each year of the prisoner’s term of imprisonment, beginning at the end of the first year of the term, subject to determination by the Bureau of Prisons that, during that year, the prisoner has displayed exemplary compliance with institutional disciplinary regulations. Subject to paragraph (2), if the Bureau determines that, during that year, the prisoner has not satisfactorily complied with such institutional regulations, the prisoner shall receive no such credit toward service of the prisoner’s sentence or shall receive such lesser credit as the Bureau determines to be appropriate .... Credit that has not been earned may not later be granted. Subject to paragraph (2), credit for the*185 last year or portion of a year of the term of imprisonment shall be prorated and credited within the last six weeks of the sentence.
(2) Notwithstanding any other law, credit awarded under this subsection after the date of enactment of the Prison Litigation Reform Act shall vest on the date the prisoner is released from custody.
* * *
(c) Pre-release custody. — The Bureau of Prisons shall, to the extent practicable, assure that a prisoner serving a term of imprisonment spends a reasonable part, not to exceed six months, of the last 10 per centum of the term to be served under conditions that will afford the prisoner a reasonable opportunity to adjust to and prepare for the prisoner’s reentry into the community ....
(d) Allotment of clothing, funds, and transportation. — Upon the release of a prisoner on the expiration of the prisoner’s term of imprisonment, the Bureau of Prisons shall furnish the prisoner with—
(1) suitable clothing;
(2) an amount of money, not more
than $500, ...; and
(3) transportation ....10
This court has opined on how good-conduct credit is to be calculated and applied under- this statute on at least two prior occasions, concluding that the Bureau’s interpretation of the statute is correct and rejecting the same arguments Moreland puts forth.
In Sample v. Morrison,
In an unpublished opinion, Tatú v. Ras-beary, this court cited with approval Sample’s, discussion of how good-conduct credits are calculated.
We are persuaded that Sample and Tatu correctly concluded that section 3624(b)(1) unambiguously directs how good-conduct credits are to be calculated and applied, which is up to 54 days “at the end of each year of the prisoner’s term of imprisonment, beginning at the end of the first year of the term.”
The temporal meaning of “the end of each year of the prisoner’s term of imprisonment” and “beginning at the end of the first year” is brought into even sharper focus when other parts of section 3624(b)(1) are considered. Good-conduct credit cannot be awarded unless the Bureau determines that “during that year, the prisoner has displayed exemplary compliance with institutional disciplinary regulations.”
Moreland’s interpretation of section 3642(b)(1) finds no support in the text of the statute. Moreland insists that she is entitled to 54 days for each year of the 17.5-year sentence she received. But all agree that because of her good conduct, Moreland will not serve at least the last two years of her 17.5-year sentence. Section 3642(b)(1) refers to “up to 54 days at the end of each year of the prisoner’s term of imprisonment, beginning at the end of the first year of the term.”
Similarly, section 3624(b)(1) directs: “Credit that has not been earned may not later be granted.”
Section 3624(b)(1) also directs how credit is to be calculated “for the last year or portion of a year of the term of imprisonment.”
Moreland and the district court’s opinion point out that the phrase “term of imprisonment” is used many times in section 3624. They recite the familiar canon of construction that a term should be given the same meaning throughout a statute, particularly when a term is repeated within a given sentence.
“The tendency to assume that a word which appeal's in two or more legal rules, and so in connection with more than one purpose, has and should have precisely the same scope in all of them, runs all through legal discussions. It has all the tenacity of original sin and must constantly be guarded against.”35
Moreland concedes that the phrase “term of imprisonment” has two distinctly different meanings within section 3624. Section 3624(b)(1) provides that “a prisoner who is serving a term of imprisonment of more than 1 year” may receive good-conduct credit.
Other federal appellate courts have similarly concluded that in section 3624, the phrase “term of imprisonment” unambiguously means the time served in one usage and the sentence imposed upon conviction in another.
We hold that the district court erred in granting Moreland’s petition for habeas corpus. Accordingly, the district court’s
judgment is REVERSED, and judgment is RENDERED DENYING the petition for writ of habeas corpus.
. See 18 U.S.C. § 3624.
. 467 U.S. 837, 842-44, 104 S.Ct. 2778, 81 L.Ed.2d 694 (1984).
. 18 U.S.C. § 3624(b)(1).
. 18 U.S.C. § 3624(b)(1).
. 18 U.S.C. § 3624(c).
. See Rumsfeld v. Padilla, 542 U.S. 426, 447, 124 S.Ct. 2711, 159 L.Ed.2d 513 (2004) ("Whenever a § 2241 habeas petitioner seeks to challenge his present physical custody within the United States, he should name his warden as respondent and file the petition in the district of confinement.").
. Zalawadia v. Ashcroft, 371 F.3d 292, 297 (5th Cir.2004) ("The Supreme Court has made it clear that the ‘in custody’ determination is made at the time the habeas petition is filed.”).
. Id. at 434 n. 7, 124 S.Ct. 2711 (using the term "jurisdiction” "in the sense that it is used in the habeas statute, 28 U.S.C. § 2241(a), and not in the sense of subject-
. See Eagles v. United States, 329 U.S. 304, 307-08, 67 S.Ct. 313, 91 L.Ed. 308 (1946) ("Though the writ has been granted and the prisoner released, the appellate court by what it does is not rendering an opinion and issuing an order which cannot affect the litigants in the case before it .... Reversal undoes what the habeas corpus court did and makes lawful a resumption of the custody.”); Campbell v. U.S. Parole Comm’n, 704 F.2d 106, 109 n. 2 (3d Cir.1983) (holding that compliance with district court order did not render appeal moot "since the effect of our reversal of the district court is to permit the Commission to return [the habeas petitioner] to custody”).
. 18 U.S.C. § 3624(a)-(d).
. See Tatu v. Rasbeary, 142 Fed.Appx. 215, 215 (5th Cir.2005); Sample v. Morrison, 406 F.3d 310, 312-13 (5th Cir.2005).
. 406 F.3d 310 (5th Cir.2005).
. Id. at 313.
. Id.
. Id. at 312.
. Id.
. 142 Fed.Appx. 215, 215 (5th Cir.2005) ("This court determined [in Sample] that the plain language of 18 U.S.C. § 3624(b) supports the [Bureau's] method of calculating good time credit.”); see also Bounds v. Reese, 145 Fed.Appx. 863, 863 n. 1 (5th Cir.2005)
. Tatu, 142 Fed.Appx. at 215.
. 5th Cm R. 47.5.4.
. 18 U.S.C. § 3624(b)(1) (emphasis added).
. Id.
. Id.
. See Yi v. Fed. Bureau of Prisons, 412 F.3d 526, 532 (4th Cir.2005) (noting that section 3624 "assumes that the prisoner has been incarcerated during the year, such that” the Bureau can determine whether the prisoner’s behavior merits the full amount of good-conduct credit).
. 18 U.S.C. § 3624(b)(1).
. Id.; see also Pacheco-Camacho v. Hood, 272 F.3d 1266, 1268-69 (9th Cir.2001), cert. denied, 535 U.S. 1105, 122 S.Ct. 2313, 152 L.Ed.2d 1067 (2002) ("Whereas the model prisoner will ordinarily receive his fifty-four-day credit after complying with prison disciplinary rules for 365 days, under [the prisoner’s] reading, a prisoner who serves 311 days would receive the same number of credits for exhibiting good behavior over only eighty-five percent of the year.”).
. See Yi, 412 F.3d at 532 ("An inmate who is not in prison cannot 'earn’ credit for compliance with prison disciplinary regulations.”); White v. Scibana, 390 F.3d 997, 1001 (7th Cir.2004), cert. denied sub nom., White v. Hobart, - U.S. -, 125 S.Ct. 2921, 162 L.Ed.2d 297 (2005) ("The Bureau cannot evaluate a prisoner's behavior and award credit for good conduct if the prisoner is not still in prison.”).
. See Scibana, 390 F.3d at 1002 ("To interpret 'term of imprisonment’ as 'sentence imposed ’ for purposes of awarding good-time credit would entitle an inmate to receive credit for good conduct in prison for time — perhaps several years of time — that he was not in prison.”); see also O'Donald v. Johns, 402 F.3d 172, 174 (3d Cir.2005) ("To calculate [good-conduct time] based on the sentence imposed would allow an inmate to earn GCT for time he was not actually incarcerated.”).
. Sample v. Morrison, 406 F.3d 310, 313 (5th Cir.2005); see also Sash v. Zenk, 428 F.3d 132, 137 n. 3, 2005 WL 2766782, *4 n. 3 (2d Cir.2005) ("In a ten-year sentence, for example, more than one year might be taken off for good behavior, in which case the [Bureau of Prisons] would have to determine the extent of the prisoner's compliance during a wholly nonexistent year. Perhaps it would be reasonable to assume that a well-behaved prisoner would continue behaving well during this hypothetical time, but nothing in the statute directs the [Bureau] to make such an assumption.”).
. 18U.S.C. § 3624(b)(1).
. See Sample, 406 F.3d at 313 ("It is plain from the statute that an inmate must earn good time credit.”); see also Yi, 412 F.3d at 532 ("An inmate who is not in prison cannot 'earn' credit for compliance with prison disciplinary regulations.”).
. 18 U.S.C. § 3624(b)(1).
. Id.
. See Brown v. Gardner, 513 U.S. 115, 118, 115 S.Ct. 552, 130 L.Ed.2d 462 (1994) (noting that this canon of construction is "most vigorously]” applied to terms repeated in the same sentence).
. Gen. Dynamics Land Sys., Inc. v. Cline, 540 U.S. 581, 595, 124 S.Ct. 1236, 157 L.Ed.2d 1094 (2004) (quoting Atlantic Cleaners & Dyers v. United States, 286 U.S. 427, 433, 52 S.Ct. 607, 76 L.Ed. 1204 (1932)).
. Id. at 596 n. 8, 124 S.Ct. 1236 (quoting Cook, “Substance’’ and “Procedure” in the Conflict of Laws, 42 Yale L.J. 333, 337 (1933)).
. 18 U.S.C. § 3624(b)(1).
. Id. § 3624(d).
. O’Donald v. Johns, 402 F.3d 172, 173-74 (3d Cir.2005); Yi v. Fed. Bureau of Prisons, 412 F.3d 526, 532-33 (4th Cir.2005); Perez-Olivo v. Chavez, 394 F.3d 45, 49 (1st Cir. 2005); White v. Scibana, 390 F.3d 997, 1002-03 (7th Cir.2004), cert. denied sub nom., White v. Hobart, — U.S.-, 125 S.Ct. 2921, 162 L.Ed.2d 297 (U.S.2005).
.See supra n. 40; see also Brown v. McPad-den, 416 F.3d 1271, 1272-73 (11th Cir.2005) (observing that district court's determination that section 3624 was unambiguous was “arguably correct,” but deciding to follow other circuit court opinions that have concluded the statute is ambiguous); Sash v. Zenk, 428 F.3d 132 (2d Cir.2005) (finding section 3624 ambiguous); Mujahid v. Daniels, 413 F.3d 991, 999 (9th Cir.2005) (same); James v. Outlaw, 126 Fed.Appx. 758, 759 (8th Cir.2005) (same); Pacheco-Camacho v. Hood, 272 F.3d 1266, 1271 (9th Cir.2001) (same). But see Williams v. Lamanna, 20 Fed.Appx. 360, 361 (6th Cir. 2001) (concluding "[t]he statute clearly states that good conduct time is awarded on time served by the inmate, not on the time that might potentially be served by the inmate”).
. But see Perez-Olivo, 394 F.3d at 49 (concluding that “term of imprisonment” could mean either time served or the sentence imposed as used in the phrase “credit for the last year or portion of a year of the term of imprisonment shall be prorated and credited within the last six weeks of the sentence” and, therefore, how to calculate the 54-day credit was ambiguous).
. See, e.g., Sash, 428 F.3d at 134, 2005 WL 2766782; WI, 412 F.3d at 532.
. See, e.g., Sash, 428 F.3d at 134, 2005 WL 2766782; O'Donald v. Johns, 402 F.3d 172, 174 (3d Cir.2005).
. 18 U.S.C. § 3624(a), (b), (d).
. Id. § 3624(b)(1).
Concurrence Opinion
specially concurring:
I concur in the panel majority judgment which reverses the district court’s grant of Moreland’s petition for habeas corpus. I disagree, however, with that part of the panel majority’s analysis that relates to its conclusion that 18 U.S.C. § 3624(b) is unambiguous. I would reverse the district court’s grant of habeas relief for the following reasons.
First, the decisions of the district court and magistrate judge are carefully reasoned. Even though I concur in reversing the judgment granting habeas relief to Moreland, I find that the district court’s reading of § 3624(b) is both principled and reasonable. Secondly, even though not binding precedent, at least two panels within this circuit have noted that the language of § 3624(b) supports the BOP’s method of calculating good time credit or, “[alternatively, ... is ambiguous and that the BOP’s interpretation is entitled to deference pursuant to Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v.
When a court reviews an agency’s construction of the statute which it administers, it is confronted with two questions. First, always, is the question whether Congress has directly spoken to the precise question at issue. If the intent of Congress is clear, that is the end of the matter; for the court, as well as the agency, must give effect to the unambiguously expressed intent of Congress. If, however, the court determines Congress has not directly addressed the precise question at issue, the court does not simply impose its own construction on the statute, as would be necessary in the absence of an administrative interpretation. Rather, if the statute is silent or ambiguous with respect to the specific issue, the question for the court is whether the agency’s answer is based on a permissible construction of the statute.
Chevron, 467 U.S. at 842-843, 104 S.Ct. 2778 (footnotes omitted). Congress has not addressed the precise question at issue, namely which of these two plausible calculations is intended by this language that attributes to the phrase “term of imprisonment” more than one definition within a single sentence and within a single subsection of § 3624. Cf. Perez-Olivo v. Chavez, 394 F.3d 45, 50-51 (1st Cir.2005) (concluding that neither the statute’s language nor its legislative history indicates whether Congress intended to calculate good time credit based on “time served” or “sentence imposed”). Therefore, under Chevron, the only question presented herein is whether the BOP’s calculation is based on a permissible construction of § 3624(b).
Rather than hinge reversal of the district court’s judgment upon whether this ambiguity is dissolved by the context of the words, I would uphold the BOP interpretation of the statute because it is one of at least two reasonable interpretations of § 3624(b). See Sample v. Morrison, 406 F.3d 310, 313 (5th Cir.2005) (finding in dicta that “the plain effect” of the annual, discretionary, award of good time credit contemplated by § 3624(b) is consistent with the BOP’s interpretation of the statute). See also Perez-Olivo, 394 F.3d at 52-53; O’Donald v. Johns, 402 F.3d 172, 174 (3d Cir.2005); Yi, 412 F.3d at 534; White, 390 F.3d at 1003; Pacheco-Camacho, 272 F.3d at 1272; Brown, 416 F.3d at 1273 (each finding reasonable the BOP’s interpretation of § 3624(b)). Perez-Olivo discusses in some detail the different meanings that the phrase “term of imprisonment” has within § 3624 and examines whether the statute’s legislative history casts light upon Congress’ intent about the calculation at bar. As noted in Perez-Olivo, 394 F.3d at 51-52, regarding the calculation urged by Moreland, virtually every other court of appeals that has visited this issue “has found that ‘term of imprisonment’ is ambiguous as used in § 3624(b)(1) and has upheld the BOP’s
I agree with our sister circuits that found ambiguous the § 3624(b) language and that found applicable Chevron’s deference. See Perez-Olivo v. Chavez, 394 F.3d 45, 51 (1st Cir.2005); O’Donald v. Johns, 402 F.3d 172, 174 (3d Cir.2005); Yi v. Fed. Bureau of Prisons, 412 F.3d 526, 533 (4th Cir.2005); White v. Scibana, 390 F.3d 997, 1002-03 (7th Cir.2004); Pacheco-Camacho v. Hood, 272 F.3d 1266, 1270-71 (9th Cir. 2001); Brown v. McFadden, 416 F.3d 1271, 1273 (11th Cir.2005) (each finding § 3624(b) ambiguous under step one of Chevron). See also Chevron, 467 U.S. at 842-43, 104 S.Ct. 2778 (stating rule of deference to agency’s administrative interpretation of ambiguous statutory language, in the absence of clear congressional intent regarding the precise issue at bar). Unlike the other courts that have addressed this issue, the courts below violated Chevron when they chose Moreland’s interpretation of this ambiguous statute over the reasonable interpretation of the BOP. For this reason, I specially concur in the judgment which reverses the grant of habeas corpus relief to Moreland.
. The rule of lenity is not applicable to this question. See Sash v. Zenk, 428 F.3d 132, 134-36, 2005 WL 2766782, *2-*3 (2nd Cir. 2005) (finding that the purposes of the rule of lenity are not implicated by this question because § 3624(b) is administrative and not criminal in nature).