F I L E D
United States Court of Appeals
Tenth Circuit
PUBLISH
DEC 14 1998
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
PATRICK FISHER
Clerk
TENTH CIRCUIT
JOSE ABEL MARTINEZ,
Petitioner-Appellant,
v. No. 98-6241
A.M. FLOWERS,
Respondent-Appellee.
APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF OKLAHOMA
(D.C. No. CIV-97-1991-A)
Jose Abel Martinez, pro se.
Before BALDOCK, EBEL, and MURPHY, Circuit Judges.*
BALDOCK, Circuit Judge.
Petitioner Jose Abel Martinez appeals the district court’s denial of his 42 U.S.C.
§ 2241 petition for habeas corpus relief. He also seeks to proceed on appeal in forma
*
After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined
unanimously that oral argument would not materially assist the determination of this
appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2); 10th Cir. R. 34.1.9. The case is therefore ordered
submitted without oral argument.
pauperis. Petitioner, an inmate at the Federal Correctional Institution in El Reno,
Oklahoma, alleges that the Bureau of Prisons (hereafter “BOP”) wrongfully refused to
grant him a one-year statutory sentence reduction upon his completion of a residential
substance abuse treatment program at FCI-El Reno. See 18 U.S.C. § 3621(e)(2)(B).
Our jurisdiction arises under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We review de novo the district court’s
denial of habeas corpus relief. See Kell v. United States Parole Comm’n, 26 F.3d 1016,
1019 (10th Cir. 1994). The district court’s factual findings are reviewed for clear error.
See Matthews v. Price, 83 F.3d 328, 331 (10th Cir. 1996). Granting Petitioner’s request
to proceed in forma pauperis, we affirm.
I.
In 1995, Petitioner was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute
and distribution of methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(A)
and § 846. The district court sentenced him to ten years imprisonment and a five-year
term of supervised release. On March 14, 1996, Dr. Robert Johnson, FCI-El Reno drug
abuse program coordinator, interviewed Petitioner to determine his eligibility for
participation in a substance abuse treatment program. As an incentive for completing
substance abuse treatment, § 3621(e)(2)(B) of the Violent Crime Control and Law
Enforcement Act of 1994 provides that “[t]he period a prisoner convicted of a nonviolent
offense remains in custody after successfully completing a [substance abuse] treatment
program may be reduced by the Bureau of Prisons [by] one year from the term the
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prisoner must otherwise serve.” Petitioner concedes that at the time of his interview, Dr.
Johnson informed him that he was ineligible for § 3621(e) early release. Nonetheless,
Petitioner began the residential treatment program on June 12, 1996, completing it on
March 21, 1997. After completion, Petitioner filed an administrative complaint seeking
the one-year sentence reduction. The BOP denied the reduction under Program Statement
5330.10 and 28 C.F.R. § 550.58, because Petitioner had an INS detainer against him and,
as a result, would be unable to complete a community-based program.
After the BOP denial, Petitioner filed for habeas corpus relief in district court. The
district court referred the petition to a United States Magistrate for preliminary review
pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B). The magistrate judge issued a report
recommending dismissal of the petition. On May 13, 1998, the district court adopted the
report and recommendation and dismissed the petition.
II.
Petitioner argues that upon completion of the residential drug treatment program,
he should have been granted a one-year reduction in sentence pursuant to § 3621(e). On
appeal, Petitioner argues that: (1) amended versions of BOP Program Statement 5330.10
and 28 C.F.R. § 550.58 were improperly retroactively applied to him to exclude him from
§ 3621(e) early release; (2) in promulgating § 550.58, BOP exceeded its statutory
authority; and (3) BOP’s decision to deny the sentence reduction violated his equal
protection rights under the Fifth Amendment. We reject Petitioner’s arguments as set
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forth below.
A.
Petitioner correctly notes that in May 1996, 28 C.F.R. § 550.58 and Program
Statement 5330.10 were amended to exclude from the sentence reduction program
individuals who could not complete a community-based treatment program. Amended
§ 550.58 provides in relevant part that inmates “who are not eligible for participation in a
community-based program” are not eligible for early release. 28 C.F.R. § 550.58 (as
amended May 1996).1 Although BOP ostensibly based its decision to deny Petitioner’s
appeal on this portion of the amended version of § 550.58, we need not decide whether
BOP could apply this amendment retroactively, because regardless of which version of
§ 550.58 BOP applied to Petitioner, he was excludable from the early release program on
another ground. Both the original and amended versions of § 550.58 exclude individuals
from early release who had previous convictions for “homicide, forcible rape, robbery, or
aggravated assault.”2 Because Petitioner had a prior state conviction for vehicular
manslaughter with gross negligence, a homicide under California law, he was ineligible
1
Section § 550.58 was subsequently amended on October 1, 1998. The portions
of the regulation relevant to this appeal, however, were not affected by the amendment.
2
The earlier version of 28 C.F.R. § 550.58 provided that an inmate was ineligible
for a sentence reduction if he had “a prior federal and/or state conviction for homicide
. . . .”
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for early release under either the original or amended version of 28 C.F.R. § 550.58.3
B.
Petitioner argues that in adopting 28 C.F.R. § 550.58, BOP exceeded its statutory
authority. In reviewing an agency’s interpretation of a statute through a formal
regulation, we defer to the agency’s interpretation if it is based on a permissible
construction of the statute. See Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense
Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837, 843 (1984); Fristoe v. Thompson, 144 F.3d 627, 631 (10th
Cir. 1998). If the statutory language is ambiguous or silent on the issue, the agency’s
regulation receives “controlling weight unless they are arbitrary, capricious, or manifestly
contrary to the statute.” Chevron, 467 U.S. at 844.
Section 3621(e)(2)(B) allows BOP to reduce an inmate’s sentence by one year if
the “prisoner [was] convicted of a nonviolent offense.” In order to implement
§ 3621(e)(2)(B), BOP promulgated § 550.58 which lists certain categories of inmates who
are excluded from sentence reduction. The excluded categories include inmates such as
Petitioner, “who have a prior conviction for homicide, forcible rape, robbery, or
aggravated assault.” The statute is silent as to whether BOP may consider a prisoner’s
past convictions or only the most recent one in determining eligibility for a sentence
reduction. Therefore, we must uphold the agency regulation unless it is “arbitrary,
3
The record also does not support a retroactivity argument. Petitioner entered the
drug treatment program in June 1996, one month after the amended version of § 550.58
went into effect.
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capricious, or manifestly contrary to the statute.”
We have not previously considered the validity of this particular § 3621(e)(2)(B)
eligibility requirement. Three other circuits, however, have addressed this question, and
upheld the regulation, concluding that BOP may permissibly exclude inmates from the
early release program if they have prior convictions for a violent offense. See Wottlin v.
Fleming, 136 F.3d 1032 (5th Cir. 1998); Stiver v. Meko, 130 F.3d 574 (3rd Cir. 1997);
Jacks v. Crabtree, 114 F.3d 983 (9th Cir. 1997), cert. denied, 118 S.Ct. 1196 (1998).
The statute states that the sentence of an inmate “convicted of a non-violent
offense . . . may be reduced by the Bureau of Prisons.” § 3621(e)(2)(B) (emphasis added).
Absent from this language is a modifier which limits the non-eligibility criteria to the
present conviction. The statute does not restrict the non-violent requirement to the
“current” or “instant” conviction. In addition, the statute’s language grants broad
discretion to BOP to grant or deny the one-year sentence reduction. In Jacks v. Crabtree,
the Ninth Circuit reasoned that the unrestrictive language of the statute, coupled with the
broad discretion granted to BOP by the statute, allowed BOP to promulgate a regulation
excluding inmates with prior convictions for violent crimes from early release. 114 F.3d
at 986; see also Bush v. Pitzer, 133 F.3d 455, 458 (7th Cir. 1997) (“a prisoner whose
offense is ‘nonviolent’ but whose underlying conduct is violent or prone to violence
rationally can be excluded from the [early release] program”).
Likewise, in Stiver, the Third Circuit concluded that BOP’s “interpretation of the
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statute represents a reasonable accommodation of Congress’ goals of providing an
incentive for inmates to obtain drug treatment while at the same time ensuring that
persons likely to commit violent crimes do not receive early release.” Stiver, 130 F.3d at
577. It would be inconsistent with Congress’ goal of limiting early release to nonviolent
offenders, to allow individuals with a history of violent crimes to receive the one-year
sentence reduction merely because their latest conviction was for a non-violent crime.
For these reasons, we agree with our sister circuits and uphold BOP’s promulgation of
§ 550.58.
Our decision does not conflict with a recent Tenth Circuit decision striking down a
different eligibility requirement under § 3621(e)(2)(B). In Fristoe v. Thompson, 144 F.3d
627 (10th Cir. 1998), we held that the adoption of Program Statement 5162.02, which
allowed consideration of sentencing factors, as well as the crime of conviction, to
determine whether an inmate was eligible for a § 3621(e)(2)(B) sentence reduction,
exceeded BOP’s statutory authority. The program statement provided that convictions
obtained under 21 U.S.C. § 841 or § 846 should be considered crimes of violence “if the
sentencing court increased the base level of the sentence for possession of a dangerous
weapon during the commission of the offense.” Fristoe, 144 F.3d at 629-30. In striking
down the program statement, we first noted that courts “typically do not consider the
predicate drug offense, conspiracy to distribute, a crime of violence.” Id. at 631. Thus,
the classification of Fristoe’s crime as “violent” rested entirely upon the sentencing
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factors. Id. We held that such reliance conflicted with the plain language of the statute
which refers to prisoners “convicted of a nonviolent offense.” (emphasis added). Id. We
reasoned that § 3621(e)(2)(B) simply does not authorize BOP to treat sentence
enhancements or factors as if they were “convictions.” Id. at 632. In other words, if the
prisoner has not been convicted of a violent offense, BOP cannot use sentencing factors
or enhancements to convert a nonviolent offense into a violent one for purposes of §
3621(e)(2)(B).
The program statement at issue in Fristoe differs from the regulation at issue in this
case in two significant ways. First, § 550.58 explicitly requires that an inmate must have
been previously convicted of a violent crime in order to be ineligible for the sentence
reduction. Importantly, unlike the program statement at issue in Fristoe,
§ 550.58 looks to inmates’ actual criminal convictions and does not attempt to convert
something else, such as a sentencing enhancement, into a conviction. See Jacks, 114 F.3d
at 985. Thus, this case does not present the problematic denial of sentence reductions to
inmates who have never been convicted of a violent crime because
§ 550.58 only excludes those inmates previously convicted of “homicide, forcible rape,
robbery, or aggravated assault . . . .”
Second, Fristoe is distinguishable from the present case because of the different
legal analyses we apply to formal versus informal agency interpretations of statutes. A
formal regulation is entitled to deference under Chevron and receives “controlling weight
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unless arbitrary, capricious or manifestly contrary to the statute.” Chevron, 467 U.S. at
844. Unlike a formal regulation, an informal program statement is not entitled to
Chevron deference. See Fristoe, 144 F.3d at 631. Instead, we consider whether the
program statement is a well-reasoned interpretation of the statute which has the “‘power
to persuade.’” Id. (quoting Skidmore v. Swift & Co., 323 U.S. 134, 140 (1944)). In
Fristoe we applied the less-deferential standard when we invalidated the program
statement. In contrast, in this case we owe § 550.58 full Chevron deference.
Consequently, Fristoe does not control the outcome of the instant case.
C.
Petitioner’s remaining equal protection argument is ineffectual at best. Petitioner
argues that he was treated differently from other prisoners who have been granted
sentence reductions. We review the government’s classification of inmates with prior
violent crime convictions under a rational basis standard, as no suspect class or
fundamental right is implemented. See Wottlin, 136 F.3d at 1036 (reviewing § 550.58
under “rational basis” standard); see Greenholtz v. Inmates of the Nebraska Penal &
Correctional Complex, 442 U.S. 1,7 (1979) (a convicted prisoner does not have a
constitutional right to be released before the expiration of a valid sentence); see also
Shifrin v. Fields, 39 F.3d 1112, 1114 (10th Cir. 1994) (violent offenders are not a suspect
class). Under this standard, we uphold a classification if it is rationally related to a
legitimate government interest. See White v. State of Colorado, 157 F.3d 1226, 1234
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(10th Cir. 1998).
When enacting the sentence reduction statute, Congress balanced the goal of
providing inmates with an incentive to participate in substance abuse treatment with the
need to ensure that violent offenders were not given early release. Section 550.58
furthers the legitimate governmental purpose of the statute by limiting early release to
nonviolent offenders. Thus, we conclude that the regulation’s treatment of inmates with
prior convictions for violent crimes is rationally related to the legitimate governmental
end of preventing the early release of potentially violent inmates. Consequently, BOP’s
application of this regulation to Petitioner did not violate his right to equal protection.
See Wottlin, 136 F.3d at 1037.
AFFIRMED.
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