Is the common law rule that a prisoner is entitled to credit where his prison sentence is interrupted through no fault of his own?

had primary jurisdiction and the defendant erroneously began his federal sentence before serving his state sentence and the sovereigns have agreed as a matter of comity that primary jurisdiction should be restored to the first sovereign. Further, courts recently addressing the issue have concluded, in light of this common law doctrine's main purpose, that it has been, or should be, considerably narrowed. For example, while acknowledging the common law rule that a prisoner is entitled to credit where his prison sentence is interrupted through no fault of his own, the court in Free stated, "[t]he limited function of this rule is clear. Its sole purpose is to prevent the government from abusing its coercive power to imprison a person by artificially extending the duration of his sentence through releases and re-incarcerations." 333 F.3d at 554. In reaching its decision, the court relied on the Seventh Circuit decision in Dunne v. Keohane , 14 F.3d 335 (7th Cir. 1994). In Dunne , the court stated, "[t]he common law rule has not been successfully invoked for many years, but we are not disposed to question its continued vitality in its core area of application, when the government is trying to delay the expiration of the defendant's sentence." Id . at 33637. That court further stated, "[e]ven if reclassification from federal prisoner to state boarder, with no release into the free community might be thought to violate the rule if it resulted in postponing the date at which the prisoner's last sentence must expire, there was no postponement." Id . at 337. Likewise, in Free , the court concluded that the defendant's sentence was not elongated as a result of his serving the first six months of his federal sentence prior to serving his state sentence. 333 F.3d at 555.