Reno v. Koray, 515 U.S. 50, 13 (1995)

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62

RENO v. KORAY

Opinion of the Court

was released on bail. This contention is a plausible one if the phrase is read in isolation: respondent was subjected to restrictive conditions when released on bail, these conditions were imposed by a court order, and his sojourn in the community treatment center therefore amounted to "official detention." But even without reference to the context of the language and the history of the statute, respondent's is not the only plausible interpretation of the language; it would be too much to say that the statute "cannot bear the interpretation adopted by" the Bureau. Sullivan v. Everhart, 494 U. S. 83, 91-92 (1990). And in light of the foregoing textual and historical analysis, the initial plausibility of respondent's reading simply does not carry the day.

Respondent also argues it is improper to focus on the release/detention dichotomy of the Bail Reform Act of 1984 to construe § 3585(b)'s "official detention" language because a defendant "released" on bail may be subjected to conditions (under 18 U. S. C. § 3142(c)(1)(B)(xiv)) that are just as onerous as those faced by "detained" defendants. In addition, he asserts that his confinement as a "released" defendant in the Volunteers of America community treatment center constituted "official detention" because "sentenced" prisoners are deemed to be in "official detention" when BOP authorizes them to serve the last part of their sentences in a community treatment center, see U. S. Dept. of Justice, Bureau of Prisons Program Statement No. 7310.02 (Oct. 19, 1993) (interpreting 18 U. S. C. § 3624(c) to allow BOP to place sentenced prisoners in community corrections centers, since such centers meet 18 U. S. C. § 3621(b)'s definition of a "penal or correctional facility"), or to serve their sentences on educational or work release, see 18 U. S. C. §§ 3622(b) and (c).

It is quite true that under the Government's theory a defendant "released" to a community treatment center could be subject to restraints which do not materially differ from those imposed on a "detained" defendant committed to the

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