Reported / Citable
Background
Bentley M. Jenkins, a federal prisoner serving an aggregated 264-month sentence for bank robbery and a supervised-release violation, petitioned under 28 U.S.C. § 2241. He alleged that the Bureau of Prisons had incorrectly calculated his First Step Act time credits.
Jenkins challenged discrepancies in his risk assessments, sought recalculation under a later PATTERN methodology, and contended that he should have earned 15 rather than 10 days of credit for each 30 days of qualifying programming during part of the relevant period. He also challenged the loss of nine credit days during a facility transfer and sought immediate placement in a residential reentry center or home confinement.
The Court’s Holding
Magistrate Judge Mark Lane recommended granting the respondent’s motion to dismiss and denying the § 2241 petition. The report found no error in the BOP’s methodology or calculation of Jenkins’s credits, noting that the BOP had already applied the first 365 earned credits toward his supervised-release transfer date—the statutory maximum for that purpose.
The report further concluded that Jenkins had not exhausted administrative remedies for his claim concerning nine days of credits allegedly lost during transfer. And, to the extent he sought earlier placement in an RRC or home confinement, the report concluded that the request concerned BOP placement discretion under 18 U.S.C. § 3621(b), rather than a cognizable habeas claim, and was not subject to judicial review.
Key Takeaways
- The report recommends denial of the petition; it is not a final district-court disposition.
- First Step Act credits may accelerate transfer to supervised release by no more than 12 months.
- A request for RRC or home-confinement placement is treated as a BOP designation decision outside § 2241 review.
Why It Matters
The recommendation underscores the limits of § 2241 litigation over First Step Act credits in the Fifth Circuit. Even where a prisoner challenges credit calculations, relief directed at prerelease placement may be unavailable because placement decisions remain committed to the BOP.