United States v. James McCandless

James McCandless is a federal prisoner who seeks bail pending a decision by the district court on his petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 . He is serving a 145-month sentence for a drug-related conspiracy conviction, with a projected release date of August 8, 2020. He contends that he should be released on bail because if he prevails on his habeas petition, he will likely receive a reduced sentence of only 71 months, a period of confinement he has already served.

McCandless’ habeas petition relies on the Supreme Court’s decision in Johnson v. United States, — U.S.-, 135 S.Ct. 2551 , 192 L.Ed.2d 569 (2015), which held that the Armed Career Criminal Act’s residual clause is unconstitutionally, vague and therefore may not serve as the basis for a sentence enhancement under the Act. Id. at 2557 . McCandless was not sentenced under the Armed Career Criminal Act. However, he contends that his sentence is unconstitutional under Johnson because his advisory Sentencing Guidelines range was enhanced under the similar residual clause of the Guidelines’ career-offender provision.

That provision increases a defendant’s advisory sentencing range if, as…