Court Opinion

ID: 9491835
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 14:25:08.530814+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:54:58.147848
License: Public Domain

STAPLETON, Circuit Judge,
Concurring:
I join the opinion of the Court. I write separately to note that much of the conflict which the government perceives between § 3585(b) and Application Note 2 to U.S.S.G. § 5G1.3(b) is attributable to its use of the word “credit” to refer to two distinct benefits that a convicted defendant may receive. A sentencing judge is charged with determining the length of any sentence of incarceration to be served. In the course of doing so, it may impose a lesser sentence than it otherwise would because of any number of relevant factors in the case. After a defendant has been sentenced to a term of incarceration, the custodian must determine when the sentence imposed will have been satisfied. In the course of doing so, the custodian may give “credit” against the sentence for such things as presentence detention, good behavior, etc.
*565In Chapter 35 of Title 18, “giving credit” is used as a term of art referred only to the latter form of benefit. We agree with the Eighth and Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeal that the Supreme Court in Wilson was referring only to the latter form of benefit when it held that only the Bureau of Prisons is authorized by § 3585(b) to “give credit” against a previously imposed sentence. While it is true, as the government stresses, that the effect upon the defendant may be the same whether he receives a sentence shortened to reflect presentence detention or a sentence not so shortened followed by credit for such detention, we cannot ignore the fact that “giving credit” is used as a term of art in § 3585(b) and is not mentioned at all in § 5G1.3(b).
As the opinion of the Court explains, Congress’ sentencing scheme assigns to the sentencing judge the task of determining whether the sentence to be imposed shall run consecutively or concurrently with a previously imposed sentence. In the specific situation where the conduct for which a defendant is being sentenced has resulted in a previously imposed sentence, § 5G1.3(b), utilizing the authority granted by § 3584(b), makes a policy choice that the total time served for the conduct not vary depending on the fortuity of when the two sentences are imposed. It accomplishes this by providing (a) that the new sentence will run concurrently with the undischarged term of the prior sentence, and (b) that the new sentence will be reduced by an amount equal to the time previously served on the prior sentence if the Court determines that the Bureau of Prisons will not give credit for such time under § 3585(b).1 We do not find this policy choice unauthorized by the Sentencing Reform Act or inconsistent with Congress’ intent that, once a sentence is imposed, the Attorney General or its designee have sole authority to determine when that sentence will be discharged.

. Contrary to the government’s suggestion, our decision today will not require that district courts master the BOP manual on sentencing credits and predict how it will be applied in a multitude of new situations. Section 3585(b) applies generally to credit for all kinds of pretrial detention and specifically forecloses the BOP from awarding credit for time that has been “credited against another sentence.” U.S.S.G. § 5G1.3(b) applies to a limited universe of cases in which the prior detention is attributable to service of a prior sentence that should run concurrently with the one being imposed. In at least the vast majority of § 5G 1.3(b) cases, the BOP will be foreclosed from granting a relevant credit because the time previously served will have been credited towards another sentence.