BOP Exclusion of Prisoners from Drug Treatment Overbroad
The petitioner, who had pled guilty to conspiracy to violate the firearms control laws, alleged that he had completed a drug abuse treatment program and therefore qualified for early release under a federal statute applicable to prisoners convicted of nonviolent offenses. The Bureau of Prisons adopted an overbroad definition of violent offenses by referring in their regulations to underlying conduct and not to the elements of the crime of conviction. However, that doesn't mean the petitioner is entitled to prevail; it just means he is eligible to be considered for early release. The Bureau of Prisons may use the underlying conduct in exercising its discretion to exclude him. See: Bush v. Pitzer, 133 F.3d 455 (7th Cir. 1997).
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