[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 25 (Tuesday, February 6, 1996)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 4350-4351]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-2402]



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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Parole Commission

28 CFR Part 2


Parole Date Advancements for Substance Abuse Treatment Program 
Completion

AGENCY: Parole Commission, Justice.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Parole Commission is substantially revising the 
interim rule, published in August of last year, that added to 28 CFR 
2.60 a provision whereby a parole-eligible prisoner could qualify for a 
special advancement of his release date by up to twelve months, if the 
prisoner completed a residential substance abuse treatment program and 
was a non-violent offender. The rule was published as an interim rule 
so as to permit the Commission to determine whether the statutory 
criteria for parole at 18 U.S.C. 4206 would permit these prisoners to 
receive an incentive for completion of such programs comparable to the 
incentive that is available under 18 U.S.C. 3621(e)(2) for prisoners 
serving sentences for crimes committed after November 1, 1987. (Such 
prisoners are not eligible for parole, but can qualify for up to twelve 
months of reduction in custody for completion of residential substance 
abuse programs). In practice, the Commission has not been able to grant 
advancements sufficient for the interim rule to provide the desired 
incentive, because parole-eligible prisoners all too frequently have 
serious offenses and serious prior records that preclude early release 
from prison. Accordingly, the interim rule has been substantially 
revised so that the permissible advancement for residential substance 
abuse program completion will be determined under the existing schedule 
for ``superior program achievement,'' and not in addition to it.

EFFECTIVE DATE: March 7, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Office of General Counsel, U.S. Parole 
Commission, 5550 Friendship Blvd., Chevy Chase, Maryland 20815.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Pamela A. Posch, Office of General Counsel, Telephone (301) 492-5959.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The interim regulation was published at 60 
FR 40094 (August 7, 1995). The interim rule permitted the advancement 
of a parole-eligible prisoner's presumptive release date by up to 
twelve months for successfully completing a residential substance abuse 
treatment program. However, the interim rule made it clear that the 
Commission's decision in any case would continue to be governed by the 
criteria for parole at 18 U.S.C. 4206(a), which requires the Commission 
to ensure that release will not depreciate the seriousness of the 
offense or jeopardize the public welfare. The Commission stated that it 
needed to determine whether the interim rule could be implemented 
consistently with the criteria at 18 U.S.C. 4206, and that if such did 
not appear feasible ``* * * the Commission may amend or withdraw the 
interim regulation.'' 60 FR 40095.
    In practice, the Commission has found that the remaining population 
of parole-eligible prisoners consists of so many offenders with 
extremely serious offenses, serious prior records, and serious 
indications of future recidivism, that the advancement authorized by 
the interim rule could seldom be reconciled with the statutory criteria 
for parole. For the most part, prisoners in the parole-eligible 
population who qualify under the interim rule have already received 
appropriate advancements. The remaining population cannot be expected 
to produce a sufficient number of qualified applicants to justify the 
adoption of the interim rule as a final rule. The Commission wishes to 
avoid the situation in which its regulations appear to promise release 
date advancements which, in practice, are rarely granted.
    On the other hand, the Commission does not wish to withdraw 
altogether the incentive for substance abuse program participation that 
the interim rule was intended to provide. The final rule guarantees 
that, upon receipt of a report from the Bureau of Prisons that the 
prisoner has successfully completed a residential substance abuse 
program of at least 500 hours, such a prison will be promptly reviewed 
for a possible advancement under the schedule set forth in 28 C.F.R. 
2.60(e). Although this schedule authorizes advancement of less than 
twelve months for prisoners whose release dates require service of less 
than eighty-five months in prison, greater advancements are authorized 
for prisoners who have been required to serve eighty-five or more 
months in prison.
    Accordingly, by considering substance abuse program completion as 
``superior program achievement'' under Sec. 2.60, the Commission 
intends to evaluate the appropriateness of such an advancement in the 
same manner that it considers advancements for other forms of superior 
program achievement, i.e., by balancing the need for recognition of the 
prisoner's achievement against the need to avoid a grant of parole that 


[[Page 4351]]
depreciates the seriousness of the offense or jeopardizes the public 
welfare. The procedural benefit of a prompt review upon program 
completion as opposed to postponement to the next statutory interim 
hearing) will constitute the Commission's special response to the 
completion of residential substance abuse programs. This policy 
determination recognizes the importance of such programs in 
contributing to the eventual rehabilitation of prisoners whose criminal 
behavior can, in some measure, can be attributed to substance abuse 
addiction.

Implementation

    The Commission will apply this rule at any hearing or record review 
(including appeals submitted to the National Appeals Board) conducted 
on or after the effective date set forth above. If the prisoner has 
demonstrated superior program achievement in some other respect, and 
such achievement has not yet been considered for an advancement under 
Sec. 2.60, any advancement will be based on the prisoner's overall 
record of accomplishments. If superior program achievement has already 
been rewarded, the advancement(s) previously granted plus the 
advancement for residential substance abuse program completion may not 
exceed the permissible reduction set forth at Sec. 2.60(e) except in 
the most clearly exceptional cases (e.g., where substance abuse program 
completion is found to make the prisoner a more acceptable risk for 
parole than indicated by the Salient Factor Score).

Executive Order 12866 and Regulatory Flexibility Statement

    The U.S. Parole Commission has determined that this final rule is 
not a significant rule within the meaning of Executive Order 12866, and 
the rule has, accordingly, not been reviewed by the Office of 
Management and Budget. The rule will not have a significant economic 
impact upon a substantial number of small entities, within the meaning 
of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 605(b).

List of Subjects in 28 CFR Part 2

    Administrative practice and procedure, Probation and parole, 
Prisoners.

The Amendment

    Accordingly, the U.S. Parole Commission is adopting the following 
amendments to 28 CFR part 2.

PART 2--[AMENDED]

    (1) The authority citation for 28 CFR part 2 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 18 U.S.C. 4203(a)(1) and 4204(a)(6).

    (2) 28 CFR part 2, Sec. 2.60 is amended by removing paragraphs (g) 
and (h), and by adding a final sentence to paragraph (b) to read as 
follows:


Sec. 2.60  Superior program achievement.

 * * * * *
    (b) * *  A report from the Bureau of Prisons based upon successful 
completion of a residential substance abuse program of at least 500 
hours will be given prompt review by the Commission for a possible 
advancement under this section.
 * * * * *
    Dated: January 29, 1996.
Jasper R. Clay, Jr.,
Vice Chairman, U.S. Parole Commission.
[FR Doc. 96-2402 Filed 2-5-96; 8:45 am]
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