Time Served Rather Than Sentence Imposed Governs Federal Prisoners’ Good-Time Credit

The U.S. Supreme Court June 7 approved the federal Bureau of Prisons’ method of calculating federal inmates’ good-time credit on the basis of the time they have served rather than on the duration of the sentences that were imposed on them (Barber v. Thomas).

The straightforward language of 18 U.S.C. §3624(b)(1) directing that credit for good behavior be awarded “at the end of each year” did not find “its way into the statute by accident,” the court said. The author of an amicus curiae brief filed on behalf of the petitioners in the case suggested to BNA ...