Reno v. Koray, 515 U.S. 50, 3 (1995)

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52

RENO v. KORAY

Opinion of the Court

Rehnquist, C. J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which O'Connor, Scalia, Kennedy, Souter, Thomas, Ginsburg, and Breyer, JJ., joined. Ginsburg, J., filed a concurring opinion, post, p. 65. Stevens, J., filed a dissenting opinion, post, p. 66.

Miguel A. Estrada argued the cause for petitioners. With him on the briefs were Solicitor General Days, Assistant Attorney General Harris, Deputy Solicitor General Dreeben, and Joseph Douglas Wilson.

Irwin Rochman argued the cause and filed a brief for respondent.*

Chief Justice Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court.

Title 18 U. S. C. § 3585(b) provides that a defendant generally must "be given credit toward the service of a term of imprisonment for any time he has spent in official detention prior to the date the sentence commences." Before the commencement of respondent's federal sentence, a Federal Magistrate Judge "released" him on bail pursuant to the Bail Reform Act of 1984 and ordered him confined to a community treatment center. The question presented is whether respondent was in "official detention," and thus entitled to a sentence credit under § 3585(b), during the time he spent at the treatment center. We hold that he was not.

On April 23, 1991, respondent Ziya Koray was arrested for laundering monetary instruments in violation of 18 U. S. C. § 1956(a)(1). On June 18, 1991, he pleaded guilty to that charge in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland. One week later, on June 25, 1991, a Federal Magistrate Judge entered a "release order" pursuant to 18 U. S. C. § 3142(c), ordering respondent released on bail, pending sentencing, into the custody of the Pretrial Services

*Charles D. Weisselberg, Michael J. Brennan, and Dennis E. Curtis filed a brief for the University of Southern California Law Center's Post-Conviction Justice Project as amicus curiae.

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