Summary
The court recommends dismissing Juan Bustos’s 28 U.S.C. § 2241 petition as moot because he was released from federal custody. The petition challenged the Bureau of Prisons’ denial of First Step Act earned time credits based on an immigration detainer. The magistrate judge directed assignment of a district judge and allowed 21 days for objections.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the court could grant effective habeas relief after the petitioner was released from custody.
- Whether the § 2241 petition challenging the denial of First Step Act earned time credits should be dismissed as moot.
Holdings
- A habeas petition seeking earned time credits to facilitate early release is moot when the petitioner has been released from custody and the court can no longer grant the requested relief.
- A federal prisoner challenging the manner, location, or conditions of sentence execution must generally proceed under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 in the district where the custodian is located.
Key quotations
“Because Petitioner has been released from custody, the Court is unable to grant him the relief he seeks -- specifically, the award of ETCs that would permit Petitioner to seek early release.” (at 2)
“Accordingly, his petition is moot and must be dismissed.” (at 2)
“the petition be dismissed without prejudice as being mooted by Petitioner’s release from custody.” (at 5)
Factual background
Bustos, a federal prisoner proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis, challenged the Bureau of Prisons’ denial of earned time credits under the First Step Act because he was subject to an immigration detainer. He filed the petition while held at FCI Mendota. According to the Bureau of Prisons’ inmate locator, he was released from custody on August 2, 2024, so the court could no longer grant the requested credits to facilitate early release.
Procedural history
Bustos filed the § 2241 petition on March 1, 2024, while incarcerated at FCI Mendota in the Eastern District of California. The matter was before the court for preliminary review under Habeas Rule 4. The court found that Bustos had been released from custody on August 2, 2024, making the requested early-release-related relief unavailable, and recommended dismissal without prejudice. The findings and recommendations were subject to objections within 21 days and had not yet been finally adopted by a district judge in the supplied document.