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Opinion of the Court
suant to the Bureau's asserted discretion to prescribe additional early release criteria. Drug traffickers who possess firearms when they engage in crimes are no longer characterized as "violent" offenders within the meaning of the statute. But they are bracketed, for sentence reduction purposes, with persons currently incarcerated for "nonviolent offense[s]" who in the past committed crimes qualifying as violent. The preconviction conduct of both armed offenders and certain redicivists, in the Bureau's view, "suggest[s] that they pose a particular risk to the public." Brief for Respondents 30.
B
In 1997, petitioner Christopher A. Lopez was convicted of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U. S. C. § 841. Upon finding that Lopez possessed a firearm in connection with his offense, the District Court enhanced his sentence by two levels pursuant to USSG § 2D1.1(b)(1). Lopez is currently scheduled to be released from prison in June 2002.
While incarcerated, Lopez requested substance abuse treatment. The Bureau found him qualified for its residential drug abuse program,2 but categorically ineligible, under 28 CFR § 550.58(a)(1)(vi), for early release. App. 3-7.
When notified that he would not be a candidate for early release, Lopez challenged the BOP's determination by filing a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, under 28 U. S. C. § 2241, in the United States District Court for the District of South Dakota. The District Court granted the petition. In that court's view, the Bureau's 1997 regulation did not correct the infirmity the Eighth Circuit saw in the 1995 rule. See App. 17-18, and n. 4 (citing Martin, 133 F. 3d, at 1079). "[I]t is true," the District Court recognized, "that the BOP
2 To qualify for residential substance abuse treatment, an inmate must be "determined by the Bureau of Prisons to have a substance abuse problem" and be "willing to participate in [the] program." 18 U. S. C. §§ 3621(e)(5)(B)(i), (ii).
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