September 04th, 2020

US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Opinions
United States v. Franco

Docket: 20-60473
Opinion Date: September 3, 2020
Judge: Jennifer Walker Elrod
Areas of Law: Criminal Law

The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of defendant's motion for reduction of sentence under the First Step Act. The court held that defendant is not excused from the statute's textual requirement that she file a request with the Bureau of Prisons before filing her motion in federal court. The court held that the statute's requirement that a defendant file a request with the BOP before filing a motion in federal court is a nonjurisdictional claim-processing rule. The court joined three other circuits in holding that the statutory requirement is mandatory. The court noted that defendant remains free to file, in the first instance, a request with the Bureau of Prisons.

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