66
Stevens, J., dissenting
Justice Stevens, dissenting.
Pursuant to an order entered by a federal judicial officer, respondent was "confined to premises of [Volunteers of America (VOA)]," a private halfway house. The order of confinement—euphemistically styled a "release" order—provided that respondent "shall not be authorized to leave for any reason unless accompanied by Special Agent Dennis Bass." Brief for Respondent 3. While at VOA, respondent "had to account for his presence five times a day, he was subject to random breath and urine tests, his access to visitors was limited in both time and manner, and there was a paucity of vocational, educational, and recreational services compared to a prison facility." Koray v. Sizer, 21 F. 3d 558, 566 (CA3 1994). Except for one off-site medical exam, respondent remained at VOA 24 hours a day for 150 days. In my opinion, respondent's confinement was unquestionably both "official" and "detention" within the meaning of 18 U. S. C. § 3585(b).
Both the text and the purpose of § 3585(b) clearly contemplate that a person who is locked up for 24 hours a day, seven days a week, pursuant to a court order, is in "official detention." Such a person is surely in custody, and that custody is no less "official" for being ordered by a court rather than the Attorney General. Indeed, even the majority acknowledges the force of this plain meaning argument. Ante, at 61-62.* Moreover, the manifest purpose of § 3585(b) is to give a convicted person credit for all time spent in official
*See also Koray v. Sizer, 21 F. 3d 558, 565 (CA3 1994) (" 'To a normal English speaker, even to a legal English speaker, being forced to live in a halfway house is to be held "in custody" ' "); Mills v. Taylor, 967 F. 2d 1397, 1401 (CA9 1992) ("[C]onfinement to a treatment center 'falls convincingly within both the plain meaning and the obvious intent' of 'official detention' "); Moreland v. United States, 968 F. 2d 655, 664 (CA8 1992) (Heaney, J., joined by Lay, C. J., and McMillian, R. Arnold, and Gibson, JJ., dissenting) ("ordinary definition of detention is a 'period of temporary custody prior to disposition by a court' ").
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