Mr. Demetrius Pullins, a member currently incarcerated at FCI Pollock, first sought the assistance of the Remedy Project in 2024 regarding FCI Williamsburg’s failure to produce records of his earned time credits. For those unfamiliar, the opportunity for incarcerated people to earn sentence-shortening time credits through recidivism reduction programming was introduced with the passage of the First Step Act (FSA) in 2018. Since Mr. Pullins is statutorily eligible to earn time credits under the FSA, he began attending programming in 2022 and earning credits toward the reduction of his sentence. At the time Mr. Pullins' report was filed, Pullins had acquired a total of 1261 program days, and had earned 365 time credits toward release and 265 days toward Residential Reentry Centers or Home Confinement. With Pullins' earned credits applied to his sentence, his projected release date would be 5/21/2030 with a home detention eligibility date for 11/21/2029—a whole year earlier than his original projected release.
Pullins' concerns first arose in September 2023 when he had a team program review, a protocol outlined by the FSA, and there was no mention of his time credits. When Pullins asked his case manager Ms. Hays why his credits were missing, Ms. Hays redirected him to the Record and told him to ask another staff member, Ms. Scott, about their status. Pullins recalled that Ms. Scott said the credits were not her job to keep track of, and that Pullins would have to speak with a case manager. Pullins then met with the unit manager Mr. Hunter who said it would take a few months for the credits to be reflected on record. Pullins then patiently waited nearly a year for recorded confirmation of his earned time credits. When Pullins went to a program review again on June 25, 2024, there were still no FSA credits recorded or reflected in his projected release date.
Here we bear witness to the bureaucratic maze that incarcerated people like Pullins are forced to navigate just to ensure the prison’s legal compliance with legislation like FSA. This defective record-keeping system and intentional obfuscation leave individuals to fight for themselves. The goose chase Pullins was forced through serves the prison as it further dehumanizes, isolates, and exhausts its prisoners. It was after this draining ordeal that Pullins turned to The Remedy Project, and a Columbia student named Elizabeth assisted him in filing an Administrative Remedy in hopes of calling attention to his mistreatment by the BOP. In the Administrative Remedy, the facts of Pullins’ time credit eligibility and FCI Williamsburg's failure to comply with the FSA are clearly outlined.
According to the FSA, the following requirements qualify a person in BOP custody to earn time credits: participation in Evidence-Based Recidivism Reducing Programs (EBRR) or Productive Activities (PA), and earning and maintaining a minimal or low-risk status through their two most recent risk assessments. Mr. Pullins is eligible to earn these time credits as his records state that he has exhibited good living skills, strong community ties, and good program participation, all of which is placed him at low-risk status for violence and recidivism. In addition, Pullins has had no escape attempts and no disciplinary action in the last three years.
The FSA also clearly states that FSA Time Credit Assessments (FTC Worksheets) “will be automatically uploaded to the inmate central file” and that “inmates will be provided a copy of the most recent FTC Worksheet during regularly scheduled program reviews”. Pullins did not receive any such FTC worksheet during either the 2023 or 2024 program review, and prison staff have not provided any explanation for the disappearance/non-existence of these FTC worksheets.
While Pullins’ has been fully FSA-compliant given his low-risk status, dedication to programming, and years-long attendance of said programming, which he explains has been “crucial for his well being”, BOP officials have violated their end of the contract.
This case is not at all uncommon and The Remedy Project has received many other complaints from other members regarding the unlawful stripping of FSA credits. Additionally, this unlawful credit withholding has begun to dovetail with immigration issues. In the past six months, the Remedy Project has received 10 different pleas regarding illegal FSA credit disappearances linked to false threats of deportation. The Remedy Project has noted a rise of conspiratorial action in which BOP staff in federal prisons will threaten immigrants with detainment or deportation when they ask for confirmation of their FSA credits. When these incarcerated immigrants ask for copies of their alleged detainers or deportation orders, BOP staff are unable to provide them. We see here how the BOP staff serve as functionaries of an oppressive, obfuscating black box of regulations in which false legal threats are rendered more legitimate than real legal obligations. Mr. Lyndon Ferguson’s campaign, recently published on the Remedy Project website, outlines his experience with this widespread issue.
It is also worth noting that Trump’s new Attorney General appointee Pam Bondi has promised to follow through on enforcement of FSA legislation. In theory, the FSA should serve incarcerated people and their families in aiming to reduce both time served and recidivism. When the FSA is unenforced, however, cases like these exemplify how the BOP conveniently abuses its absolute power to carry out the tyrannical agenda of the prison system.
Prisons have a vested interest in denying prisoners their earned time credits as it is more profitable for the BOP to keep people in prison than to reduce their sentences. We at the Remedy Project demand that Mr. Pullins’ receive the time credits he has earned in accordance with the FSA. We must hold the BOP accountable for meeting basic standards of record-keeping and legal compliance. The carceral system serves to silence and exhaust those serving time inside so that the systemic abuses they suffer are kept in the dark. Mr. Pullins’ case is of course not an isolated incident, and institutionalized neglect such as this runs rampant throughout prisons nationwide. Join us in demanding justice for Mr. Pullins and the 10 other members unable to access their earned time credits, many of whom have been threatened with deportation as a targeted attack on their immigration status. Please follow through with the action item below.
Mr. Demetrius Pullins, a member currently incarcerated at FCI Pollock, first sought the assistance of the Remedy Project in 2024 regarding FCI Williamsburg’s failure to produce records of his earned time credits. For those unfamiliar, the opportunity for incarcerated people to earn sentence-shortening time credits through recidivism reduction programming was introduced with the passage of the First Step Act (FSA) in 2018. Since Mr. Pullins is statutorily eligible to earn time credits under the FSA, he began attending programming in 2022 and earning credits toward the reduction of his sentence. At the time Mr. Pullins' report was filed, Pullins had acquired a total of 1261 program days, and had earned 365 time credits toward release and 265 days toward Residential Reentry Centers or Home Confinement. With Pullins' earned credits applied to his sentence, his projected release date would be 5/21/2030 with a home detention eligibility date for 11/21/2029—a whole year earlier than his original projected release.
Pullins' concerns first arose in September 2023 when he had a team program review, a protocol outlined by the FSA, and there was no mention of his time credits. When Pullins asked his case manager Ms. Hays why his credits were missing, Ms. Hays redirected him to the Record and told him to ask another staff member, Ms. Scott, about their status. Pullins recalled that Ms. Scott said the credits were not her job to keep track of, and that Pullins would have to speak with a case manager. Pullins then met with the unit manager Mr. Hunter who said it would take a few months for the credits to be reflected on record. Pullins then patiently waited nearly a year for recorded confirmation of his earned time credits. When Pullins went to a program review again on June 25, 2024, there were still no FSA credits recorded or reflected in his projected release date.
Here we bear witness to the bureaucratic maze that incarcerated people like Pullins are forced to navigate just to ensure the prison’s legal compliance with legislation like FSA. This defective record-keeping system and intentional obfuscation leave individuals to fight for themselves. The goose chase Pullins was forced through serves the prison as it further dehumanizes, isolates, and exhausts its prisoners. It was after this draining ordeal that Pullins turned to The Remedy Project, and a Columbia student named Elizabeth assisted him in filing an Administrative Remedy in hopes of calling attention to his mistreatment by the BOP. In the Administrative Remedy, the facts of Pullins’ time credit eligibility and FCI Williamsburg's failure to comply with the FSA are clearly outlined.
According to the FSA, the following requirements qualify a person in BOP custody to earn time credits: participation in Evidence-Based Recidivism Reducing Programs (EBRR) or Productive Activities (PA), and earning and maintaining a minimal or low-risk status through their two most recent risk assessments. Mr. Pullins is eligible to earn these time credits as his records state that he has exhibited good living skills, strong community ties, and good program participation, all of which is placed him at low-risk status for violence and recidivism. In addition, Pullins has had no escape attempts and no disciplinary action in the last three years.
The FSA also clearly states that FSA Time Credit Assessments (FTC Worksheets) “will be automatically uploaded to the inmate central file” and that “inmates will be provided a copy of the most recent FTC Worksheet during regularly scheduled program reviews”. Pullins did not receive any such FTC worksheet during either the 2023 or 2024 program review, and prison staff have not provided any explanation for the disappearance/non-existence of these FTC worksheets.
While Pullins’ has been fully FSA-compliant given his low-risk status, dedication to programming, and years-long attendance of said programming, which he explains has been “crucial for his well being”, BOP officials have violated their end of the contract.
This case is not at all uncommon and The Remedy Project has received many other complaints from other members regarding the unlawful stripping of FSA credits. Additionally, this unlawful credit withholding has begun to dovetail with immigration issues. In the past six months, the Remedy Project has received 10 different pleas regarding illegal FSA credit disappearances linked to false threats of deportation. The Remedy Project has noted a rise of conspiratorial action in which BOP staff in federal prisons will threaten immigrants with detainment or deportation when they ask for confirmation of their FSA credits. When these incarcerated immigrants ask for copies of their alleged detainers or deportation orders, BOP staff are unable to provide them. We see here how the BOP staff serve as functionaries of an oppressive, obfuscating black box of regulations in which false legal threats are rendered more legitimate than real legal obligations. Mr. Lyndon Ferguson’s campaign, recently published on the Remedy Project website, outlines his experience with this widespread issue.
It is also worth noting that Trump’s new Attorney General appointee Pam Bondi has promised to follow through on enforcement of FSA legislation. In theory, the FSA should serve incarcerated people and their families in aiming to reduce both time served and recidivism. When the FSA is unenforced, however, cases like these exemplify how the BOP conveniently abuses its absolute power to carry out the tyrannical agenda of the prison system.
Prisons have a vested interest in denying prisoners their earned time credits as it is more profitable for the BOP to keep people in prison than to reduce their sentences. We at the Remedy Project demand that Mr. Pullins’ receive the time credits he has earned in accordance with the FSA. We must hold the BOP accountable for meeting basic standards of record-keeping and legal compliance. The carceral system serves to silence and exhaust those serving time inside so that the systemic abuses they suffer are kept in the dark. Mr. Pullins’ case is of course not an isolated incident, and institutionalized neglect such as this runs rampant throughout prisons nationwide. Join us in demanding justice for Mr. Pullins and the 10 other members unable to access their earned time credits, many of whom have been threatened with deportation as a targeted attack on their immigration status. Please follow through with the action item below.
