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The First Step Act ("FSA") requires that the federal Bureau of Prisons ("BOP") "shall transfer eligible prisoners...into prerelease custody" once they accrue sufficient time credits. In sharp contrast to prison life, people on prerelease custody--which can be served at home, on home confinement, or in a halfway house--live outside of prison walls and can regularly see loved ones, wear their own clothes, run errands, get a paid job, attend religious services of their choosing, and otherwise reintegrate into their communities.

There is no question that Jose Osorio-Calderon is eligible for immediate transfer to prerelease custody under the FSA. Nevertheless, BOP has imprisoned him for more than a year beyond his mandatory FSA transfer date. In February 2025, Mr. Osorio-Calderon filed a habeas corpus petition seeking his release from prison onto prerelease custody in the community.

On June 18, 2025, a Magistrate Judge entered a Report and Recommendation concluding that Mr. Osorio-Calderon's claims could be brought through a habeas corpus petition and that the FSA mandated his transfer from prison onto prerelease custody. However, on September 19, 2025, the district court rejected the Report and Recommendation and dismissed the habeas petition. The district court held that Mr. Osorio-Calderon's claims challenged conditions of confinement, which cannot be brought through a habeas petition under Eighth Circuit precedent. Mr. Osorio-Calderon appealed to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.

On December 10, 2025, the ºìÐÓÊÓƵ, ºìÐÓÊÓƵ of Minnesota, and the law firm Jones Day filed an amicus brief in the Eighth Circuit explaining that an incarcerated person may seek transfer from prison onto prerelease custody through a writ of habeas corpus. As the Supreme Court has repeatedly recognized, confinement in prison differs qualitatively from other forms of custody like parole, probation, or other forms of conditional release. Although those on conditional release remain in legal custody and must follow strict conditions, they live outside prison walls and enjoy freedoms unavailable to those in prison. As the brief explains, circuit court caselaw around the country, including in the Eighth Circuit, supports seeking the transfer of an incarcerated person from prison onto prerelease custody through a habeas petition.

On the merits, the brief explains that the FSA creates an enforceable right to conditional release from prison. Because Mr. Osorio-Calderon has earned sufficient time credits under the FSA, BOP's refusal to release him from prison is unlawful.