News FeedFederal Prisoners Serve More Than 85% of Their Time
I recently received a question from a reader who asked whether it was really true that federal inmates had to serve 85 percent of their sentences. The sad truth is that inmates who are sentenced to federal prison today must serve more than 85 percent of their time.
Many prisoners mistakenly believe that they will serve 85 percent of their sentences. Yet in the vast majority of jurisdictions, Bureau of Prison administrators calculate good time as a percentage of time served rather than a percentage of the actual sentence. In other words, for every year that a prisoner serves in prison, he may receive a good time award of up to 54 days. By using that calculation, administrators get away with requiring federal prisoners something closer to 87 percent of their sentences. Some prisoners have taken the BOP to court on the way administrators calculate good time. As of this writing, however, very few prisoners have prevailed in court.
My hopes are to see reforms that will bring significant relief to those of us in federal prison. I was sentenced under a sentencing scheme known as the old law, which provided for more good time allotments. Yet anyone whose crime was committed after November 1, 1987, falls under the new law provisions, which provides for a maximum of 54 days per year of good time. My article entitled Preparing to Self-Surrender offers more detail on the prison experience.
MY HUSBAND IS IN A FEDERAL INSTITUTION AND HE SAID THAT SOME OF THEM WHERE TALKING ABOUT SOMETHING BEING PAST FOR THEM ONLY DOING 65% BUT I HAVE BEEN READING THIS STUFF AND IF 85% IS ONLY 54 PER YEAR FOR GOOD TIME WHAT WOULD 65% BE AND WHERE WOULD I FIND OUT WHEN HE COULD GET OUT HE HAS 5 YEARS AND HAS DONE 2 ALREADY SO HOW CAN I CALCULATE HIS GOOD TIME OR 85% OR 65% OFF I AM COMPLETLY CLUELESS PLEASE HELP
MY SON IS ALSO IN A FEDERAL INSTITUTION AND HE HAS SAID THE SAME THING ABOUT A LAW BEING PASSED REGARDING 65% OF TIME. MY SON WAS SENTENCED TO 87 MONTHS AND HAS ALSO DONE 2 YEARS ALREADY. HE IS A FIRST OFFENDER AND I COULDN’T UNDERSTAND THE LEVEL OF HIS SENTENCE. BUT AFTER READING STATISTICS ABOUT THE INCARCERATED…MOST ARE AFRICAN AMERICANS OR HISPANICS, I GUESS THAT ANSWERED MY QUESTION.
It is also white that get many, many more years than others. Some of those people that get less time have done many more offences (violent). It does,evidently matter who you are and who holds a grudge!!
My boyfriend, also currently in prision has heard this same thing, 85% being reduced to 65%. He also heard that people in prision have been talking about that for years now. I always hope for the best of course but I can’t seem to find any information for myself.
The bill these inmates are talking about could be HR 1475? It’s a good starting point to research anyways.
@JJ, the Inmate Locator on the bop website may show you a release date with good time already deducted.