A part of me cannot believe that I’ve been incarcerated for 23 months. Much time has passed and many life events missed, but time passes quickly due to staying active and busy. First arriving in Morgantown in November of 2022, the First Step Act of 2018 was the hot topic. Two days after having self-surrendered, the Board of Prisons (BOP), which oversees all prisons in the United States, issued a policy statement for how time credits would be applied for nonviolent offenders with low or minimum security status (that would be me). While the First Step Act of 2018 (affectionally known as FSA) had a timeline of implementation by January of 2022, the BOP struggled with systemic applications for giving time credits. Perhaps the latency of delay dealt with the onset of COVID-19, which was a likely “excuse” for many missed deadlines. Yet, many inmates that had endured years of lockdown from COVID-19 were hopeful that the 2018 law was in its final stages of implementation (if only wishes came true at that time). Tax laws are seamlessly passed and implemented the same tax year; so the question beckons why does the BOP take so long for implementation? I digress.
The excitement for the then-new policy of applying credits buzzed nearly every conversation for months in early 2023. Not all incarcerated adults receive the credits, so chit-chat could be somewhat resentful for the those individuals serving sentences that involved guns or leadership roles in conspiracies. Now, it’s October of 2024, almost 3 full years missed of the implementation deadline of the FSA, and some of the calculations of credits are being finalized. Over the past year, inmates were receiving credits that were “earned;” however, FSA delegates these credits to be projected to help all those incarcerated people plan for their future return to society. Fortunately, these projected dates for planning are now showing up on paperwork for formal meetings…BUT, they are still not being implemented. Apparently, the liaisons (BOP employees) between prisoners (ummm, Adults in Custody also known as AIC) and society do not fully understand or grasp the implications of these newly released dates, which could not be any clearer than when the law had passed in 2018. Incongruent of being able to receive planning date, my family informed me that the main page of BOP.gov has a sentencing calculator. While I have not seen this calculator, I understand that you simply input a date of incarceration and other significant dates will be generated, like how much time a person will serve behind bars, in a halfway house, or on home confinement (aka house arrest).
Due to the recent implementation of these calculations of credits, some individuals received immediate release, while so many others wait for their allotted dates to be shared with them. I am in the latter category. I am waiting on my formal meeting to receive the projected dates of when I will transition to a halfway house or home confinement. Some people have difficulty trying to understand how inmates could receive a sentence, then be released sooner. Well, credits for being good are earned throughout a prison sentence and the type of crime committed impact the amount of credits applied. I quickly wanted to raise awareness that sometimes the red tape of laws really do delay implementation, which I know is not a surprise (and certainly criminals are not a priority within societal governance). While I wait for the full implementation of these credits, I continue to remain focused on the electrician apprenticeship, participating in activities like pickleball and band, and attend weekly church services. These are the little steps that reshape and refocus me to coming back home and back to civilization 🙂 Thank you so much for taking the time to checkout my prison journey. I could not endure this time without the support of so many of you, so THANK YOU for being with me each step of the way. Have a wonderful week and continue to look for any little miracle in your life!