Patrick McNulty v. Warden of FCI-Schuylkill

Summary

The court dismissed Patrick McNulty’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 challenging the Bureau of Prisons’ denial of early-release eligibility following completion of the Residential Drug Abuse Treatment Program. The court held that McNulty failed to exhaust available administrative remedies and found no applicable exception. It alternatively concluded that his firearm-related offense characteristics disqualified him from the RDAP early-release incentive under 28 C.F.R. § 550.55 and Lopez v. Davis.

Holdings

1. A federal prisoner ordinarily must exhaust available Bureau of Prisons administrative remedies before seeking habeas relief under § 2241, and McNulty's failure to pursue any administrative remedy required dismissal because no exception to exhaustion applied.
2. McNulty was not entitled to habeas relief because the Bureau of Prisons may categorically deny the RDAP early-release incentive to a prisoner whose felony involved carrying, possessing, or using a firearm or other dangerous weapon, and the record established that McNulty's offense fell within that category.

Questions Presented

1. Whether McNulty's § 2241 petition should be dismissed for failure to exhaust the Bureau of Prisons' administrative-remedy process.
2. Whether McNulty was entitled to habeas relief from the Bureau of Prisons' determination that his firearm-related conviction and weapons enhancement made him ineligible for the RDAP early-release incentive.

Disposition

dismissed