FAMM Publishes First Step Act Earned Time Credits Rule Explainer

Last week, the Department of Justice announced it would begin transferring thousands of people out of federal prisons as part of the First Step Act.

FAMM has published First Step Act Earned Time Credits Rule Explainer. Key information include:

Who is eligible to apply FSA Time Credits toward pre-release custody or supervised release?

• People in BOP custody (including those in a halfway house or on home confinement);
• who are serving a federal sentence;
• who have successfully participated in Evidence-Based Recidivism Reducing Programs (EBRR or Programs) or Productive Activities (PA); 
• who have been assessed as “minimum” or “low” risk for at least one assessment or who can obtain warden approval; and
• who have earned credits equal to the remainder of their prison term.

Who is barred from either earning FSA Time Credits or applying those credits toward pre-release custody?

• People serving sentences for convictions under state or District of Columbia law, or who have a final order of removal under immigration law, cannot apply credit toward pre-release custody or supervised release.
• People serving a sentence for a conviction the First Step Act identifies as disqualifying cannot earn credit. In limited circumstances, certain prior convictions may also prohibit one from earning credit....

What do earned FSA Time Credits do?

• Eligible people who have earned FSA Time Credits may have them applied toward pre-release custody (halfway house or home confinement transfers) or early transfer to supervised release (essentially shortening the sentence).
• Transfer to supervised release is limited to one year, but people may be transferred to pre-release custody earlier