Sentencing Guidelines

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Jermel Pope v. Janet Perdue

Case No.: 16-4217

Officials: WOOD, Chief Judge, and RIPPLE and KANNE, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Sentencing Guidelines

Various statutes vest the Federal Bureau of Prisons (“BOP”) with the authority to make decisions that affect aspects of a federal inmate’s sentence. In Jermel Pope’s case, the BOP used its authority to prolong his federal sentence. Pope argues that the BOP erroneously wielded that authority and asks that we reconsider the BOP decisions that extended his sentence. Pope has completed his term of imprisonment and is now serving a period of federal supervised release, so we must also consider whether Pope’s habeas corpus petition is now moot because he is no longer housed in a federal corrections facility.

Because overincarceration carries great weight in a motion to modify supervised release under 18 U.S.C. § 3538(e), Jermel Pope’s case remains live. It has merit as well. The BOP miscalculated the date Pope’s sentence commenced. But for this error, it would have released Pope from prison months before it eventually did. The BOP also abused its discretion when it denied Pope’s request for retroactive designation. Its decision to deny Pope time‐served credit, however, was within its discretion. Accordingly, we DENY the Government’s motion to dismiss Pope’s case as moot, and VACATE and REMAND the district court’s denial of Pope’s habeas corpus petition. On remand, the district court shall transfer Pope’s case to the sentencing court for further proceedings. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the BOP shall revise the date of the commencement of Pope’s federal sentence to August 31, 2009, and reconsider Pope’s request for retroactive designation in line with the Supreme Court’s decision in Setser.

Vacated and Remanded

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.