Calvert v. Denham , 594 F. App'x 545 ( 2015 )

FILED
United States Court of Appeals
Tenth Circuit
February 9, 2015
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
Elisabeth A. Shumaker
Clerk of Court
TENTH CIRCUIT
JOHN L. CALVERT,
Petitioner - Appellant,
No. 14-1414
v. (D.C. No. 1:14-CV-01966-LTB)
(D. Colo.)
DEBORAH DENHAM, Warden
Respondent - Appellee.
ORDER AND JUDGMENT *
Before GORSUCH, McKAY, and BACHARACH, Circuit Judges.
John Calvert was convicted of robbery and burglary more than a dozen
years ago and sentenced to 270 months in custody — a term that, according to the
Bureau of Prisons (BOP), is set to expire in 2018, accounting for the good time
credit he has earned. See 18 U.S.C. § 3624(b). But Mr. Calvert sees it
differently. Certain that he deserves an earlier release, he filed this 28 U.S.C.
§ 2241 suit challenging the execution of his sentence. See McIntosh v. U.S.
*
After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has
determined unanimously to grant the parties’ request for a decision on the briefs
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(f) and 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). The
case is therefore ordered submitted without oral argument. This order and
judgment is not binding precedent, except under the doctrines of law of the case,
res judicata, and collateral estoppel. It may be cited, however, for its persuasive
value consistent with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 and 10th Cir. R. 32.1.
Parole Comm’n, 115 F.3d 809, 811 (10th Cir. 1997) (explaining that § 2241 is the
proper vehicle for disputing good time credit calculations). He claims that
instead of giving him the 54 days of credit he’s due each year under the statute,
see 18 U.S.C. § 3624(b), the BOP has awarded him only 47 days per year.
But the only evidence before us suggests the opposite. According to a good
time tally sheet generated by the BOP, Mr. Calvert has accumulated 54 days of
credit for each year he’s spent behind federal bars. The document suggests the
BOP has done exactly what it’s supposed to: “preliminarily put . . . 54 days to
the side” each year until, when accounting for the trove of accumulated credits,
less than one year of prison time remains. Barber v. Thomas, 560 U.S. 474, 476-
77 (2011). At that point — for Mr. Calvert, sometime in 2018 — the BOP will
prorate the remaining good time credits based on a relatively obscure
mathematical formula. See id. at 492-93 (appendix explaining the BOP’s
method); see also id. at 494 (Kennedy, J., dissenting) (describing the formula as
one “federal prisoners . . . will be unable to understand”). Mr. Calvert won’t get
54 days of credit for each year of the sentence originally handed down by the
district judge, but rather 54 days of credit for each year actually served. See
Barber, 560 U.S. at 479-80. To the extent he contends the statute calls for a
different approach, Barber precludes that exact argument. See id. And to the
extent Mr. Calvert seems to suggest that the BOP’s good time sheet was
knowingly falsified in some fashion, he fails to identify any facts that might
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support such an accusation, leaving us unable to discern in his complaint any
viable claim that might warrant relief. See generally Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S.
662, 677-79 (2009).
The district court’s sua sponte order of dismissal is affirmed and Mr.
Calvert’s motion to proceed in forma pauperis is denied.
ENTERED FOR THE COURT
Neil M. Gorsuch
Circuit Judge
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