Bruce Downey v. Joseph Crabtree, Warden, Federal Correctional Institution

This appeal by Joseph H. Crabtree, warden of the Federal Correctional Institution, Sheridan, Oregon, requires us to decide if the federal Bureau of Prisons properly defined “convicted of a nonviolent offense” as set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 3621 (e)(2)(B) of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. Such a determination is necessary to review whether the district court properly held that Petitioner Bruce Downey, a federal prisoner, is entitled to be considered by the Bureau of Prisons for a sentence reduction as authorized by Congress based upon his completion of a drug-treatment program while incarcerated. The district court disagreed with the Bureau’s interpretation of § 3621 and granted Downey’s petition for a writ of habeas under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 . The warden appeals that decision.

The district court held that Downey successfully completed a residential drug-abuse treatment program, received the requisite certificate and was, therefore, eligible for a sentence reduction of up to one year. The court decided the Bureau of Prisons’ determination that Downey was convicted of a “crime of violence” and, thus, ineligible for a sentence reduction was contrary to…