Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/boundvolumes/529bv.pdf
Page Number: 131.0

529US1

Unit: $U33

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UNITED STATES v. JOHNSON

Opinion of the Court

term of supervised release commenced not on the day he left
prison conﬁnes but earlier, when his lawful term of imprison-
ment expired.
Id., at 571. Awarding respondent credit for
the extra time served, the court further concluded, would
provide meaningful relief because supervised release, while
serving rehabilitative purposes, is also “punitive in nature.”
Ibid.
Judge Gilman dissented, agreeing with the position
of the District Court.

Id., at 572–573.
The Courts of Appeals have reached differing conclusions
on the question presented. Compare United States v.
Blake, 88 F. 3d 824, 825 (CA9 1996) (supervised release
commences on the date defendants “should have been re-
leased, rather than on the dates of their actual release”),
with United States v. Jeanes, 150 F. 3d 483, 485 (CA5 1998)
(supervised release cannot run during any period of impris-
onment); United States v. Joseph, 109 F. 3d 34 (CA1 1997)
(same); United States v. Douglas, 88 F. 3d 533, 534 (CA8
1996) (same). We granted certiorari to resolve the question,
527 U. S. 1062 (1999), and we now reverse.

Section 3583(a) of Title 18 authorizes, and in some in-
stances mandates, sentencing courts to order supervised
release terms following imprisonment. On the issue pre-
sented for review—whether a term of supervised release
begins on the date of actual release from incarceration or
on an earlier date due to a mistaken interpretation of fed-
eral law—the language of § 3624(e) controls. The statute
provides in relevant part:

“A prisoner whose sentence includes a term of super-
vised release after imprisonment shall be released by
the Bureau of Prisons to the supervision of a probation
ofﬁcer who shall, during the term imposed, supervise
the person released to the degree warranted by the con-
ditions speciﬁed by the sentencing court. The term of
supervised release commences on the day the person is
released from imprisonment and runs concurrently with
any Federal, State, or local term of probation or super-