What an exciting week for continued prison reform! Earlier in April, I proposed the question on how to reform the reform since the implementation of the First Step Act (FSA) had been a distant reality and the forgotten Second Chance Act (SCA). These two prison reform laws have been substantially abused by politicized policies. Just a quick recap of each law’s intent: the SCA reduces prison sentences by 15% for good conduct and allows for 1 year of transition from prison to a halfway house and up to 6 months of home confinement; and, the FSA reduces prison sentences by 1 year for nonviolent offenders and allows for extra earned time for halfway house/home confinement with significant emphasis on the latter. While Congress passes these statutes and the President signs them into law, the Board of Prisons (BOP) has been responsible for implementation. It took over 7 years and a Supreme Court’s decision to implement the 15% reduction of the SCA, since the BOP concocted a botched calculation that reduced sentences by 13.7% in lieu of the required 15%. Continuing with the same bureaucratic fervor, the BOP spent the last 7 years slowly implementing and applying FSA reductions and time credits. Yet, BOP instructed prison staff to implement FSA over SCA, with an effort to make SCA nonexistent. The FSA is very clear that it’s an addition to the SCA.
While both laws are very clear about how to calculate and implement reductions of sentences by applying earned credits, the new leadership of the BOP issued a very clear directive this week: DO IT NOW. The director of BOP issued a press statement for immediate release instructing prison staff to begin giving BOTH SCA AND FSA credits and reductions with emphasis on home confinement, which is all automatically calculated within the BOP’s time calculation system. For example, a sentence could be reduced by 15% + 1 year off + 18 months’ time served in home confinement/halfway house (SCA) + any extra time projected to be earned (FSA). This calculation stacks the credits instead of differentiating between them, which has been happening for a few years. Alas, a prison sentence is significantly reduced by two laws with a lot time served at home. The new directive this week made it very clear that all these credits must be applied and home confinement must be the preferred option. From a business perspective, BOP does not want incarcerated adults to spend much time out of the system, since their funding is based on the prison population. Yet, many men and women are being incarcerated much longer in custody without consideration given to the full implementation of the two laws. It’s important to note that not every inmate qualifies for these time credits – mostly nonviolent offenders with low and minimum custody levels, which is not a large populous within the federal prison system.
This week’s press release is important for me, since I have earned much time off after having spent the last 30 months growing through this journey and qualify for both the SCA and FSA time credits. Since this news just happened, I do not have any details, but I was just given an official Release Plan document to complete. The simple document just details my home address and work options upon release from prison. Also, due to these credits, I may not have enough time to complete the drug and alcohol abuse program (RDAP), the sole reason for transferring to SPC Texarkana. I may have to make a very difficult decision regarding my participation in this program or seek earlier release to home confinement for an extra year. In the upcoming weeks, I hope to have a clearer path of what the immediate future will entail.
While I just completed my second week at SPC Texarkana, I was able to enjoy my first holiday meal for Memorial Day. The food is delicious here. The meal consisted of a juicy hamburger, two kosher hot dogs, sweet baked beans, greens, a slice of butter cream pie, and a full pint of ice cream! First, I’ve never had butter cream pie, which very much tastes like cheesecake, but a tad sweeter. The pint of ice cream was Little Debbie’s Star-Crunch Vanilla – an interesting flavor, but actually really good – all 740 calories of it! Since the weather has been exceptionally beautiful, I’ve played a lot of pickleball, which my time at Morgantown has helped me keep stride with the competition here. Also, the prison has a band room, which was quite the surprise, since it’s outside in a shed. I’ve been practicing with three other guys, who picked two songs that I had already known from prior bands, so that made it seem like I could hold my own. And, finally, I found the chapel, which is tucked in the corner of the prison at the end of a hallway. The door is inconspicuous, but the room feels very much like a chapel with stained glass windows and carpet with Christian symbols. While they only offer Saturday morning Eucharist services for Catholics, they haven’t had one in a few weeks…so I’m anxious to attend one when it’s available.
As always, thank you for taking the time check-in and see how I’m doing with my adjustment in Texas. All the support, love, and continued encouragement has truly made this prison journey tolerable and contributes to my successful reentry to society. I wish you and your loved ones a wonderful start to summer and remember to be mindful of any little miracle in your life this week 🙂