Juan Manuel Simental-Lopez v. Warden, FCI Mendota

• Court: District Court, E.D. California
• Decided: October 7, 2025
• Docket: 1:25-cv-00303
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10

11 JUAN MANUEL SIMENTAL-LOPEZ, Case No. 1:25-cv-00303-EPG-HC

12 Petitioner, ORDER DIRECTING RESPONDENT TO FILE DOCUMENTATION REGARDING 13 v. PETITIONER’S FIRST STEP ACT CREDITS 14 WARDEN, FCI MENDOTA, 15 Respondent.

16 17 Petitioner is a prisoner proceeding pro se with a petition for writ of habeas corpus 18 pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241. 19 Respondent has moved to dismiss the petition, arguing inter alia that “[t]he relief demand 20 is not ripe for adjudication because it rests upon contingent future events (e.g., earning ETCs that 21 may be applied when his classification level permits) that may not occur as anticipated, or indeed 22 may not occur at all.” (ECF No. 8 at 3.) 23 “When applying ripeness principles to habeas petitions seeking early release for earned 24 FSA time credits, ‘[f]ederal courts around the country read Section 3624(g)(1)(A) to mean that 25 the BOP is permitted to apply time credits only once an inmate has earned enough [credits] that 26 equal the remainder of her sentence.’” Wright v. Ricolcol, No. EDCV 24-1863 FWS (AS), 2025 27 WL 2005479, at *5 (C.D. Cal. June 3, 2025) (alterations in original) (some internal quotation marks and citation omitted), report and recommendation adopted, 2025 WL 1863188 (C.D. Cal. 1 | July 3, 2025). Here, neither party has provided the Court with information regarding whether 2 | Petitioner has earned enough First Step Act credits to equal the remainder of Petitioner’s 3 | sentence. Thus, it is unclear whether the petition should be dismissed on ripeness grounds. 4 Accordingly, the Court HEREBY ORDERS that within FOURTEEN (14) days of the 5 | date of service of this order, Respondent SHALL FILE documentation with regard to the First 6 | Step Act credits Petitioner has earned and whether it is equal to the remainder of Petitioner’s 7 | sentence. 8 9 IT IS SO ORDERED. 10} Dated: _ October 7, 2025 [Jee ey — ll UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28