Cite as: 515 U. S. 50 (1995)
Opinion of the Court
Bureau's interpretation is the most natural and reasonable reading of § 3585(b)'s "official detention" language. It is true that the Bureau's interpretation appears only in a "Program Statemen[t]"—an internal agency guideline—rather than in "published regulations subject to the rigors of the Administrative Procedur[e] Act, including public notice and comment." 21 F. 3d, at 562. But BOP's internal agency guideline, which is akin to an "interpretive rule" that "do[es] not require notice and comment," Shalala v. Guernsey Memorial Hospital, 514 U. S. 87, 99 (1995), is still entitled to some deference, cf. Martin v. Occupational Safety and Health Review Comm'n, 499 U. S. 144, 157 (1991), since it is a "permissible construction of the statute," Chevron U. S. A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 467 U. S. 837, 843 (1984).
Respondent, as we have indicated, disagrees with the above interpretation of § 3585(b). He contends that the "plain meaning" of the phrase "official detention" includes the restrictive conditions of his confinement, even though he
from detention with a requirement of program participation and/or residence.
"A defendant is not eligible for any credits while released from detention. Time spent in residence in a community corrections center as a result of the Pretrial Services Act of 1982 (18 U. S. C. § 3152-3154), or as a result of a condition of bail or bond (18 U. S. C. § 3141-3143), is not creditable as presentence time. A condition of bail or bond which is 'highly restrictive,' and that includes 'house arrest', 'electronic monitoring' or 'home confinement'; or such as requiring the defendant to report daily to the U. S. Marshal, U. S. Probation Service, or other person; is not considered as time in official detention. Such a defendant is not subject to the discretion of the U. S. Attorney General, the Bureau of Prisons, or the U. S. Marshals Service, regarding participation, placement, or subsequent return to a more secure environment, and therefore is not in a status which would indicate an award of credit is appropriate (see Randall v. Whelan, 938 F. 2d 522 (4th Cir. 1991) and U. S. v. Insley, 927 F. 2d 185 (4th Cir. 1991). Further, the government may not prosecute for escape in the case of an unauthorized absence in such cases, as the person has been lawfully released from 'official detention.' " (Emphasis in original.)
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