| "> | | | | guaranteed immediate placement. However, especially |
| There are four variables involved in calculating a | | | | on sentences of over 12 months, some halfway |
| federal prison sentence. | | | | house time can be expected. Halfway house time is |
| 1.Good Time Credit- | | | | extremely rare on sentences of less than 6 months. |
| This is the time that the BOP gives back to inmates | | | | 4.Time Already Served- |
| who follow the rules and stay out of trouble. Under | | | | Time already served in custody awaiting sentencing |
| the Sentencing Guidelines it is equal to 15% of time | | | | or during transport to the designated prison, must be |
| served. Anyone sentenced to 12 months or less will | | | | deducted. This time is subtracted after the above |
| not qualify for any Good Time Credit. This is why | | | | calculations have been made e.g. if sentence is 366 |
| sentences of 12 months and 1 day are often handed | | | | days and actual time to be served is 319 days and |
| down. It is the judge's way of showing some | | | | time already served is 3 days, the 3 days would be |
| leniency. | | | | deducted from 319 not from 366. |
| Rather than just subtracting 15% from the sentence, | | | | The task of Calculating Good Time Credit to be |
| the BOP has chosen to employ some interesting logic | | | | awarded is probably the most confusing and difficult |
| in interpreting the meaning of 15%. This is explored in | | | | of the above four steps. This stems from the fact |
| further detail below. This common misunderstanding | | | | that while the Sentencing Guidelines called for a well |
| means that subtracting 15% from the total sentence | | | | behaved inmate to serve 85% of his sentence, the |
| duration will not result in an accurate calculation of | | | | BOP chose to interpret this differently. Instead of |
| Good Time Credit to be awarded. | | | | simply subtracting 15% from the total sentence, the |
| 2.Residential Drug Abuse Program (RDAP)- | | | | BOP decided to base the reduction on the time that |
| Those inmates who are placed in and successfully | | | | would have been served under the system prior to |
| complete the BOP's Residential Drug Abuse Program | | | | the Sentencing Guidelines and Good Time Credit. |
| can qualify for a sentence reduction of up to one | | | | In 1987 the Sentencing Commission's staff was |
| year. Placement is reserved for those who are | | | | tasked with the job of creating a baseline for the |
| deemed to have severe drug abuse problems. | | | | Sentencing Table upon which all federal sentences |
| 3.Halfway House- | | | | would be graphed. They collected a large sample of |
| The BOP's uses halfway houses to integrate | | | | sentences for a broad array of crimes and |
| offenders back into the community, before they are | | | | determined the actual time served as a baseline. |
| released. While no longer imprisoned, offenders in a | | | | When the sentence was more than 12 months, the |
| halfway house are subject to a plethora of rules and | | | | commission divided by .85. In doing so, the sentences |
| regulations and are still under the jurisdiction of the | | | | in the Levels Table, which was used prior to Good |
| BOP. | | | | Time Credit, became comparable with those in the |
| An inmate is eligible for a halfway house with 10% | | | | new Guidelines. |
| remaining on their sentence or 6 months in the case | | | | In essence then, the BOP succeeded in adhering to |
| that 10% is greater than 6 months. Halfway house | | | | the new Guidelines, while at the same time keeping |
| time is based on actual time served, not on the total | | | | inmates incarcerated beyond the time that many |
| duration of the sentence. Once an inmate becomes | | | | advocates insist was the intention of those very |
| eligible for a halfway house, he or she is in no way | | | | Guidelines. |