May 22, 2021
Ninth Circuit panel interprets FIRST STEP amendment to statutory safety valve to greatly expand who can avoid federal mandatory-minimum sentences
A helpful reader made sure I did not miss a significant new Ninth Circuit panel ruling in
US v. Lopez, No. 19-50305 (9th Cir. May 21, 2021) (available here). Here is how the opinion gets started:
Title 18 U.S.C. § 3553(f), commonly called the “safety valve,” allows a district court to sentence a criminal defendant below the mandatory-minimum sentence for certain drug offenses if the defendant meets the criteria in § 3553(f)(1) through (f)(5). In 2018, Congress amended one of the safety valve’s provisions: § 3553(f)(1).