In significant news to sentencing reform advocates, the Department of Justice recently announced a new rule interpreting the First Step Act’s provision on “earned time credits,” which allow inmates to earn sentence reductions by completing certain programs. Under the new rule, eligible inmates can earn up to 10 days of “time credits” for every 30 days of “successful participation in evidence-based recidivism reduction programming or productive activities.” Certain inmates are not eligible, including sex offenders, deportable inmates, and inmates with convictions for violent crimes or under 924(c).
As announced by the Department of Justice, the BOP has already started the process of transferring eligible prisoners out of BOP facilities into halfway homes or home confinement.
Click here for a helpful “explainer’ by FAMM (Families Against Mandatory Minimums)
Click here to read the DOJ press release regarding the earned time credits rule.
Click here to read a list of the BOP’s programs that qualify an inmate for reduced time credits.
Click here to read the Federal Defender’s helpful chart for determining Earned Credits eligibility and other issues.