240
Opinion of the Court
Congress left the question unaddressed, the Bureau maintains, the agency may exclude inmates either categorically or on a case-by-case basis, subject of course to its obligation to interpret the statute reasonably, see Chevron, 467 U. S., at 844, in a manner that is not arbitrary or capricious, see 5 U. S. C. § 706(2)(A). In this instance, the Bureau urges, it has acted reasonably: Its denial of early release to all inmates who possessed a firearm in connection with their current offense rationally reflects the view that such inmates displayed a readiness to endanger another's life; accordingly, in the interest of public safety, they should not be released months in advance of completing their sentences.3
We agree with the Bureau's position. Preliminarily, we note conspicuous anomalies in Lopez's construction. If § 3621(e)(2)(B) functions not as a grant of discretion to determine early release eligibility, but both as an authorization and a command to reduce sentences, then Congress' use of the word "may," rather than "shall," has no significance. And if the BOP does have discretion to deny early release to certain inmates, but only based on individualized assessments of postconviction conduct, then the agency cannot categorically deny early release even to recidivists with prior (perhaps multiple) convictions for "homicide, forcible rape . . . , or child sexual abuse offenses." 28 CFR § 550.58(a)(1)(iv) (2000). For that provision, as much as the exclusion of inmates imprisoned for offenses involving a firearm, see supra, at 235, entails no individualized determination based on postconviction conduct. Furthermore,
3 The dissent straddles the fence, agreeing with Lopez that the statute addresses his case unambiguously, but disagreeing with him on precisely what the statute says. Lopez reads the statute to exclude Bureau consideration of preconviction conduct, Reply Brief 4-5; the dissent reads the same words to permit BOP consideration of such conduct, post, at 248 (opinion of Stevens, J.). These divergent readings hardly strengthen the dissent's assertion that Congress supplied a definitive answer to the "precise question" at issue. See post, at 245.
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