We get this question a lot: aren’t inmates who’ve earned less than 365 day of First Step Act (FSA) credit supposed to learn up to 12 months of Second Chance Act (SCA) community confinement as well?
The answer is yes, 100%. This was verified by the director of the BOP in his press release to the public and prison staff.
Here’s the breakdown based on conversations with Rick Stover and other BOP staff members. First, SCA credit is granted based on 10% of the inmate’s sentence, or 12 months in a halfway house, whichever is lesser. Someone will only see 12 months if their sentence is 10 years or longer.
The issue is that there’s still a level of discretion by the case manager here, mediated by the five-factor review. An inmate who has earned less than 365 days of FSA credit can be given 10%/12 months based on the SCA.
An inmate who is eligible for FSA and SCA with more than a 10-year sentence will earn too much FSA credit when applied to halfway house or home confinement, driving their SCA benefits to zero and making them null and void, according to the press release.
Inmates who aren’t eligible for FSA credit will only see SCA benefits, and are more likely to get maximum SCA community confinement time.
If you’re not getting what you’re supposed to, a Habeus motion, also known as a 2241, is the remedy in court available to you. Our team has a seven day turnaround on these kinds of motions.
Give us a call at 407-434-0175 during business hours and we’re happy to help.