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SCOTUS upholds BOP's method for calculating good time credits in Barber v. Thomas

By Douglas A. Berman

SCOTUS watchers will likely be disappointed that the Justices did not hand down any of its big pending opinion this morning. But federal prisoners should be even more disappointed that the one criminal justice opinion in an argued case that was handed down this morning, Barber v. Thomas, has turned out to be a 6-3 loss for defendants.  Barber could have been the most practically consequential sentencing case of the Term if it had come out the other way, but now it is perhaps most interesting for its (unprecedented) voting blocks.  Here is how SCOTUSblog reports on the Barber ruling: The third and last opinion is in 09-5201, Barber v. Thomas... The Court affirms the lower court, with Justice Breyer writing for the Court... The vote is 6-3, with Kennedy dissenting joined by Stevens and Ginsburg...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on June 07, 2010 (boomark / email).