Harwin v. Martinez

STEVE KIM, U.S. MAGISTRATE JUDGE

I

INTRODUCTION

Petitioner James Harwin is a prisoner in the custody of the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) and a former firearms dealer convicted of unlawfully transferring firearms in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 5861(e). He claims that because his offense was nonviolent, the BOP had to grant him early release after he completed its Residential Drug Abuse Treatment Program (RDAP) in accordance with 18 U.S.C. § 3621. That statute gives the BOP discretion to reduce the sentences of prisoners who participate in RDAP if they were convicted of a "nonviolent offense." 18…