Robert Joyner White v. Warden, United States Penitentiary

Appellant’s petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus was denied by the District Court on October 1, 1976, and it dismissed the petition.

There is but one issue. The petitioner urged that the Parole Commission and Reorganization Act, effective May 14, 1976, grants appellant credit for 776 days spent on parole prior to May 14, 1976. The government urges that the Act has no retroactive effect.

Appellant had received a 15 year sentence for bank robbery, and a second consecutive 2 year sentence for perjury, commencing April 30, 1959, when he was first placed in custody. Appellant was released on parole on October 19, 1968, and after 776 days on parole was returned to prison on January 4, 1971 for a parole violation (which was not a conviction for a new crime).

Pursuant to Title 18 U.S.C. § 4205 , in effect in 1971, appellant was not given credit for the 776 days because “ . the time the prisoner was on parole (under such circumstances) shall not diminish the time he was sentenced to serve.”

Appellant was again released on parole on August 16,1971, was convicted of a new crime, and returned to prison again on December 27, 1972. Again, he was not given credit for such parole time, and…