The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today released an opinion in USA v. SULLIVAN, No. 06-30546, a criminal appeal. The panel consisted of Alex Kozinski and Raymond C. Fisher, Circuit Judges, and Andrew J. Guilford, District Judge.

GUILFORD, District Judge:
We consider whether Defendant-Appellant Dennis Edward Sullivan (”Sullivan”) was under federal supervised release when he failed a drug test, thus violating his supervised release terms. This determination turns on whether Sullivan’s detention in a Montana community pre-release center (”PreRelease Center”) was an “imprisonment” under 18 U.S.C. § 3624(e) (”§ 3624(e)”). We conclude that it was not an imprisonment, and the district court therefore lacked jurisdiction because Sullivan’s supervised release had expired. Facts Sullivan failed a drug test by testing positive for marijuana on August 24, 2006. The United States District Court for the District of Montana ruled this was a violation of Sullivan’s supervised release, finding that it had not expired. This supervised release arose from a 1998 federal conviction for posses. . .

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