UNITED STATES v. TURNQUIST (2019)

MEMORANDUM ** and ORDER

Federal prisoner John Turnquist appeals from the district court’s denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. We review de novo the district court’s denial of Turnquist’s petition, Stephens v. Herrera, 464 F.3d 895, 897 (9th Cir. 2006), and we affirm.

The First Step Act of 2018, Pub. L. No. 115-391, 132 Stat. 5194, includes an amendment to 18 U.S.C. § 3624(b) – the good time credit provision – providing federal prisoners the possibility of seven additional days of good time credit per year. § 102(b), 132 Stat. at 5210. Turnquist argues that this amendment took effect upon the Act’s enactment on December 21, 2018, and, therefore, requires the Bureau of Prisons to immediately re-calculate his sentence, which would accelerate his projected release date and consequently his transfer to a community corrections facility.

However, our decision filed today in Bottinelli v. Salazar, No. 19-35201, 929 F.3d 1196, 2019 WL 3071298 (9th Cir. 2019), resolves this issue. There, we held that the Act’s good time credit amendment was not immediately effective upon enactment but will become so with the establishment of the “risk and needs assessment system” on July 19, 2019 – 210 days after the Act’s enactment. See §§ 101(a), 102(b), 132 Stat. at 5196-97, 5213. For the reasons explained in Bottinelli, we affirm the denial of Turnquist’s habeas petition.¹

AFFIRMED.

FOOTNOTES

1.   We grant Turnquist’s unopposed request for judicial notice. Dkt. No. 20.