Judicial Recommendations

Once there is a finding of guilt, either via admission by the defendant or by a jury verdict, the defendant, in consultation with his/her attorney must decide what federal prison facility and programs they will attempt to secure at sentencing. One of the three most important criteria used by the RDAP staff in considering eligibility for the RDAP program is a judicial recommendation. The defendant and his attorney should be aware that this judicial recommendation must be for the 500-Hour Residential Drug Abuse Program and not for the 20-Hour Drug Education Course, 40-Hour Drug Education Course or the Non-Residential Drug Abuse Program. Remember the 20-Hour or 40-Hour Drug Education Course is required of all inmates with any history of drug or alcohol use.

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A Federal District Court Judge has the ability to make a request or recommendation for a specific federal prison or a specialized federal prison program for a defendant he is about to or has sentenced. This is called a judicial recommendation. Judicial recommendations are requests by a Federal District Court Judge to the Bureau of Prisons for placement of a defendant in a specific federal prison or participation in a specialized federal prison program that the judge feels would be of benefit to the defendant. The Bureau of Prisons is not bound to follow judicial recommendations but in most cases will attempt to follow them. When a Federal District Court Judge imposes a sentence on a defendant, he must provide a document called a Judgment in a Criminal Case, a.k.a., Judgment. The Judgment in a Criminal Case is the official court document which is signed by the Judge. The Judgment contains the offense(s) for which the court imposed its sentence, which ordinarily contains a financial, confinement, and supervision obligation. It also contains any judicial recommendations made by the judge as well as the Statement of Reasons. The Statement of Reasons (SOR) is an attachment to the Judgment which indicates the reason for the court’s final sentence and other sentencing related issues. It is required in every felony case where the sentencing range exceeds 24 months, or whenever there is a departure from the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines range.

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When the Bureau of Prisons determines not to follow a judicial recommendation, it responds in writing to the Judge. The BOP would respond in writing to the Judge if it determined that a different federal prison or geographical area other than what the Judge recommended was appropriate for designation. The BOP would also respond when a judicial recommendation for the specialized federal prison program was not followed. Therefore, it is imperative that the defendant lays the appropriate solid foundation and groundwork for judicial recommendations prior to sentencing. Federal prison facilities must be checked for population density and overcrowding. Federal prison programs such as the 500-Hour Residential Drug Abuse Program must be investigated for class size, availability, waiting list, English or Spanish classes, and many other variables. It is important to get the appropriate federal prison designation the first time.

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PCG is an expert in solving federal prison placement issues and securing judicial recommendations for those institutions. We lay the proper foundation and groundwork well in advance of the sentencing deadline and position our clients for proper federal prison designation and federal prison program placement.

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