William A. White v. Warden, Federal Correctional Institution, Cumberland

This Court has long recognized that individuals can have property or liberty interest, protected by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clauses, that is created by statute. For example, although there is no inherent due process right to early release from prison, the procedural component of the Due Process Clauses protects prisoners’ statutory rights to good-time credits. Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539 (1974). To determine whether a statute creates a protected liberty interest, this Court asks whether the law “contain[s] language mandating release under certain circumstances.” Board of Pardons v. Allen, 482 U.S. 369, 372 (1987). In this case, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals held that, although the First Step Act contains mandatory language requiring the earning of time credits for qualifying individuals, federal prisoners do not have had statutorily created protected liberty interest in those time credits because they are “contingent” upon “conditions.” The question presented is: Whether the First Step Act creates a legitimate right or expectation in earning time credits for qualifying federal prisoners that can give rise to a liberty interest protected by the Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause?