United States District Court, D. Minnesota
Mazen
Khdeer, Reg. No. 58611-060, Federal Medical Center,
Rochester, MN 55903-4000, pro se Petitioner.
Ana H.
Voss, Esq., Assistant United States Attorney, counsel for
Respondent.
REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION
BECKY
R. THORSON, UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE.
In this
petition for relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2241, Mazen Khdeer
alleges that prison officials abused their discretion by
reducing his placement time in a Residential Reentry Center
(“RRC”). (Doc. No. 1, Habeas Pet.) Petitioner is
on long-term anti-coagulation therapy due to a history of
myocardial infarction (“MI”) with stent
placement, and his placement time was reduced to sixty days
due to his serious medical needs. For the reasons stated
below, this Court recommends that the petition be denied.
I.
Background
A.
Petitioner's Conviction and Release Date
Petitioner
is currently incarcerated at the Federal Medical Center in
Rochester, Minnesota. (Doc. No. 13, Declaration of Jon Gustin
(“Gustin Decl.”) ¶ 22, Ex. B at 2.) He is
serving a 57-month term of imprisonment for the following
convictions: Conspiracy to Launder Money; Malicious Use of
Fire to Damage a Building Used in Interstate Commerce;
Conspiracy to Harbor Aliens; Health Care Provider Fraud; and
False Claims. (Id.) Petitioner's projected
release date is March 2, 2019. (Id.)
B.
RRC Placement and Home Confinement
The
Second Chance Act of 2008 (“SCA”) authorizes the
Bureau of Prisons (“BOP”) to grant an inmate up
to twelve months in a pre-release RRC placement at the end of
their sentence “to the extent practicable.” 18
U.S.C. § 3624(c)(1). An inmate can also be eligible for
home confinement at the end of their sentence for ten percent
of their term of imprisonment or six months, whichever is
shorter. Id. § 3624 (c)(2). The BOP is required
to consider each inmate's pre-release placement on an
individual basis using five factors: (1) the resources of the
facility contemplated, (2) the nature and circumstances of
the offense, (3) the history and characteristics of the
prisoner, (4) any statement by the court that imposed the
sentence concerning the purposes for which the sentence to
imprisonment was determined to be warranted or recommending a
type of penal or correctional facility as appropriate, and
(5) any pertinent policy statement by the United States
Sentencing Commission. Id. § 3621(b)(1)-(5).
Approximately
seventeen to nineteen months before an inmate's projected
release date, an inmate's Unit Team will review the
inmate for pre-release RRC placement and an appropriate
length of home confinement, using the five factors of §
3621(b). (Gustin Decl. ¶ 8.) In addition to basic needs,
such as securing identification, employment, and housing,
Unit Team staff will determine if an inmate has other needs
that can be met at the RRC during a potential placement.
(Id. ¶ 9.) For a majority of inmates, an
additional need is community drug programming. (Id.)
To successfully complete what is known as a Residential Drug
Abuse Program (“RDAP”), [1] an inmate must complete a
minimum of 120 days in a Transitional Drug Abuse Treatment
(“TDAT”) program while in community confinement.
28 C.F.R. §§ 550.53(a)(3), 550.56; (Gustin Decl.
¶ 9). Under some circumstances, an inmate who
successfully completes RDAP is eligible to receive up to a
twelve-month sentence reduction. 18 U.S.C. 3621(e)(2)(B);
(Gustin Decl. ¶ 9). If an inmate cannot fulfill the TDAT
portion of RDAP before their provisional § 3621(e)
release date, their provisional release date can be adjusted
“by the least amount of time necessary to allow inmates
to fulfill their treatment obligations.” 28 C.F.R.
§ 550.55(c)(3); (Gustin Decl. ¶ 9).
After
an inmate's Unit Team has considered the inmate's
individualized needs and factors under § 3621(b) and the
institution's warden has approved their recommendation
regarding home confinement and an appropriate length of
pre-release RRC placement and RRC location, the
institution's recommendation is forwarded to the
Residential Reentry Manager field office (“RRM”)
that oversees the proposed RRC. (Gustin Decl. ¶ 10.) RRM
staff finalize the recommendation after considering the
resources of the facility contemplated. See §
3621(b)(1); (Gustin Decl. ¶ 10). RRM staff are trained
to not unilaterally deny pre-release RRC referrals or reduce
a placement recommendation unless there are no available RRC
beds within a reasonable distance for the inmate's
specific date or timeframe. (Id.)
C.
Inmates With Medical Needs
The BOP
recognizes that some inmates may not be medically suitable
for community placement if they require ongoing medical
treatment or have uncontrolled medical conditions. (Doc. No.
14, Declaration of Gregg Fearday (“Fearday
Decl.”) ¶ 10.) An inmate who has a medical
complication while on community placement may no longer be
able to comply with the terms of community placement and may
need to be returned to a BOP institution. (Id.) The
inmate would still be able to continue to address his release
needs from a BOP facility with the assistance of staff, such
as social workers and the inmate's Unit Team.
(Id.) By contrast, if the inmate needed
hospitalization in a local medical facility, the ability to
address the inmate's release needs would be severely
limited. (Id.)
Thus,
when considering an inmate with complex medical conditions
for a community placement, the risk of complications that
could occur during the placement, including the nature and
severity of the potential complications, is balanced against
the inmate's need for release preparation in the
community. (Id. ¶ 11.) RRM staff therefore
consult with medical staff to determine whether the requisite
medical services are available in the community where
placement is being considered. (Id.) Based on
guidance from medical ...