First Step Act Applies To Everyone, But Not All Benefits Can Be Earned
There’s a very nuanced point that we need to stress, which some case managers don’t fully understand: everyone in federal prison is eligible for the First Step Act.
What we mean is this: The First Step Act covers a wide range of benefits to programming inmates, including guaranteed phone time, which applies to every federal prisoner.
However, the part that specifically talks about Federal Time Credits (FTCs), which, while earned, will reduce your time in prison, only applies to those inmates who aren’t in prison for one of the 68 disqualifying offenses as laid out in the law.
There are plenty of inmates with 924(c)s and sex offenses, which make an inmate ineligible to earn apply FTCs towards a sentence reduction, who still earn phone minutes and quarterly prizes by programming to their needs.
Every inmate is given a set of “needs” after their assessment shortly after intake. Programming to these will determine if an inmate will earn the benefits for which they qualify.
Some case managers and counselors don’t understand this. If you or your inmate is being told by their place of incarceration that they aren’t eligible for their phone minutes or other things because of their offense, it’s time to pursue administrative remedies. Or, perhaps we can help from the outside.
Give us a call: 407-434-0175, or reach out on our website.