Opinion ID: 567185
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Maine Statutory Provisions

Text: 5 17-A M.R.S.A. § 1253(1) (Calculation of period of imprisonment) provides: 6 The sentence of any person committed to the custody of the Department of Corrections shall commence to run on the date on which that person is received into the correctional facility designated as the initial place of confinement by the Commissioner of Corrections pursuant to section 1258. That day is counted as the first full day of the sentence. 7 However, a sentenced person who has been detained awaiting trial or sentencing is entitled to receive a day-for-day deduction from the total term of imprisonment.... Id. § 1253(2). 8 Different categories of good-time credit are available for sentenced prisoners but no good-time credit is extended to pretrial detainees. Thus, sentenced prisoners receive a fixed amount of credit (ten days per month for sentences of more than six months and three days per month for sentences of six months or less) for observing all rules of the department and institution. Id. § 1253(3), (3-B). For sentenced prisoners who are assigned work and responsibilities within the institution or program in which he or she has been placed, an additional three days per month may be deducted if the work or responsibilities are deemed to be of sufficient importance to warrant those deductions.... Id. § 1253(4). Finally, an additional two days per month may be deducted for sentenced inmates participating in minimum security community programs. Id. § 1253(5). Pursuant to § 1253(6), the credit awarded under subsections 3 and 3-B may be withdrawn by the supervising officer of the institution for the infraction of any rule of the institution, for any misconduct or for the violation of any law of the State. 9 The period from which the good-time credit deduction is made shall be calculated from the first day the person is delivered into the custody of the department [of corrections].... Id. § 1253(3). Pursuant to subsection (1), supra, this is the day a defendant's sentence begins to run. As already noted, therefore, in computing the amount of good-time credit to which a defendant is entitled, the statute does not permit credit for any time spent in pretrial detention. Thus, a defendant who remained free on bail pending trial may have more good-time credit offset against his total sentence than a similarly sentenced prisoner who was detained prior to trial due to indigency. Appellant claims that this difference amounts to a wealth-based distinction that violates the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment of the federal constitution.