Griffis v. Segal

Background

Arielle Griffis was incarcerated at FCI Waseca and was serving a 100-month sentence after pleading guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and/or ammunition. Her projected release date was April 26, 2027.

Griffis filed a petition asking the court to require the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to apply earned time credits under the First Step Act of 2018. She said the BOP had refused to apply the credits because her recidivism risk level was medium. She argued that the credits should be applied regardless of her risk level.

A magistrate judge recommended denying the petition and dismissing the case. Griffis objected, arguing that her risk level should be minimum or low because she had completed 11 Adult Continuing Education classes and that the BOP had not updated her risk assessment because of staffing problems.

Court’s analysis

The district court reviewed the parts of the magistrate judge’s recommendation to which Griffis objected. The court explained that, under the First Step Act, prisoners may earn time credits, but only eligible prisoners may have those credits applied toward prerelease custody or supervised release. The court determined that the statute did not require the BOP to apply credits for prisoners who had a medium recidivism risk level.

Because Griffis’s petition had accepted that she was classified as medium risk, the court concluded that the BOP had not erred in refusing to apply her credits. The court declined to consider her later argument that her risk level should have been low because she had not presented that argument to the magistrate judge first.

The court also addressed that argument alternatively. Even assuming Griffis should have been classified as low risk, the court found that she had not shown that her earned credits equaled the remaining portion of her sentence. The law provides that credits are earned based on days of successful participation in qualifying programs or activities, not simply on the number of classes completed. The court noted that Griffis had more than 40 months remaining before her projected release date and had not shown that her credits equaled that remaining term.

Disposition

The court overruled Griffis’s objection, adopted the magistrate judge’s report and recommendation, denied her petition, and dismissed the action without prejudice. The court’s order stated that dismissal without prejudice allowed Griffis to file the petition again in the future if new information relevant to the decision became available.