United States of America v. John Turnquist

NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
JOHN TURNQUIST,
Defendant-Appellant.
No. 19-15641
D.C. Nos.
1:12-cr-00173-AWI-BAM-1
1:16-cv-00565-AWI
MEMORANDUM*
and ORDER
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of California
Anthony W. Ishii, District Judge, Presiding
Submitted July 8, 2019**
Portland, Oregon
Before: FERNANDEZ, GRABER, and OWENS, Circuit Judges.
Federal prisoner John Turnquist appeals from the district court’s denial of
his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. We review de novo the district court’s
denial of Turnquist’s petition, Stephens v. Herrera, 464 F.3d 895, 897 (9th Cir.
2006), and we affirm.
* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
FILED
JUL 15 2019
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS

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2
The First Step Act of 2018, Pub. L. No. 115-391, 132 Stat. 5194, includes an
amendment to 18 U.S.C. § 3624(b) – the good time credit provision – providing
federal prisoners the possibility of seven additional days of good time credit per
year. § 102(b), 132 Stat. at 5210. Turnquist argues that this amendment took
effect upon the Act’s enactment on December 21, 2018, and, therefore, requires the
Bureau of Prisons to immediately re-calculate his sentence, which would accelerate
his projected release date and consequently his transfer to a community corrections
facility.
However, our decision filed today in Bottinelli v. Salazar, No. 19-35201 (9th
Cir. 2019), resolves this issue. There, we held that the Act’s good time credit
amendment was not immediately effective upon enactment but will become so
with the establishment of the “risk and needs assessment system” on July 19, 2019
– 210 days after the Act’s enactment. See §§ 101(a), 102(b), 132 Stat. at 5196-97,
5213. For the reasons explained in Bottinelli, we affirm the denial of Turnquist’s
habeas petition.1
AFFIRMED.
1 We grant Turnquist’s unopposed request for judicial notice. Dkt. No. 20.

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