248
Stevens, J., dissenting
II
I fully agree with the majority that federal prisoners do not become entitled to a sentence reduction upon their successful completion of a drug treatment program; the words "may be reduced" do not mean "shall be reduced." Nonetheless, while the statute does not entitle any prisoner to a sentence reduction, it does guarantee nonviolent offenders who successfully complete a drug treatment program consideration for such a reduction.
For every nonviolent offender who participates in a drug treatment program, the BOP may be required to make two individualized determinations: (1) whether he or she has successfully completed that program; and (2), if so, whether his or her preconviction conduct, postconviction conduct, and prospects for rehabilitation justify a sentence reduction. In evaluating whether or not a particular individual is entitled to a sentence reduction, the BOP may give great weight to whichever of these factors it determines to be most relevant. That, however, is a far cry from categorically excluding from consideration prisoners who Congress explicitly intended to obtain such consideration.4
The majority's concern about the risks and burdens associated with case-by-case decisionmaking in a large number of cases is understandable yet ultimately misguided. In order to fulfill the statute's requirements, the BOP must already
4 This Court's decision in INS v. Yueh-Shaio Yang, 519 U. S. 26 (1996), relied upon by the majority, ante, at 242-243, is not to the contrary. Yueh-Shaio Yang did not involve an effort by an administrative agency to categorically exclude from consideration for a benefit a particular class of individuals because of a characteristic considered and rejected by Congress as a basis for categorical exclusion. Rather, that case involved the related yet distinct question whether such a characteristic may be given any weight by the agency in making an individualized case-by-case determination whether to grant the benefit to a particular individual. If the issue in this case were whether the BOP could even consider the nature of the offense in determining whether to grant a particular sentence reduction, Yueh-Shaio Yang would be relevant to our analysis.
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