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Shipp v. Bureau of Prisons

CASE SUMMARY

Did we achieve our litigation objective? Yes, our client was released from prison earlier than the Bureau of Prisons planned.

Court Outcome: The case was voluntarily dismissed after the client was release from prison.

Larger Impact: BOP must apply the First Step Act as Congress wrote it.

Summary: In December 2018 the president signed the First Step Act into law. The act was a bi-partisan criminal justice reform bill, that, among other things increased the amount of merit time deductions from his sentence a federal prisoner could earn each year for good behavior. The law was supposed to take effect immediately, but the Bureau of Prisons adopted an unnatural reading of the new statute to delay Congress’ direction.

Mr. Shipp should have been released from prison almost immediately after the act became law, but the BOP’s unreasonable delay kept him in prison beyond his lawful release date. NCLA sued to force the BOP to apply the law as written.

OUR CLIENT

Robert Shipp, Plaintiff

RELEVANT MATERIALS

NCLA FILINGS

Complaint, Shipp v. U.S. Bureau of Prisons

June 17, 2019 | Read More

Plaintiff’s Emergency Motion for a Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction

June 17, 2019 | Read More

PRESS RELEASES

NCLA Demands that Bureau of Prisons Follow the Law in Recalculating Prison Sentences for Thousands in Custody

June 17, 2019

IN THE MEDIA

Inmate Says Bureau Dropped the Ball on Good-Time Credits

Courthouse News Service

February 7, 2023

Despite Sentencing Reform, the US Bureau of Prisons is Holding Thousands of Inmates Illegally Beyond their Release Dates

July 8, 2019

CASE HIGHLIGHTS

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