US v. Jones: Jones pleaded guilty to a methamphetamine charge that carried a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence. At sentencing, she argued that she was eligible for relief under the statutory “safety valve” provision, as amended by the First Step Act. The district court ultimately agreed and sentenced Jones to 100 months in prison.
On appeal, the Fourth Circuit affirmed Jones’ sentence, rejecting a challenge from the Government. 18 USC 3553(f)(1) excludes from safety valve relief any defendant who “does not have . . . more than 4 criminal history points . . . a prior 3-point offense . . . and a prior 2-point violent offense.” At issue was whether the “and” really means “and” in this situation, that a defendant must have all three criminal features to be excluded from safety valve relief. Looking to the plain meaning of the statute, the court agreed that “and” in this case was clearly conjunctive and so all three are required. The court rejected several arguments by the Government that all became “nothing more than an exaggerated way of saying ‘and’ means ‘or’.” It rejected a theory described by another judge as a “far-fetched and quixotic em-dash theory,” noting that if Congress really wanted to say “or” instead of “and” it easily could have done so. The court also rejected the Government’s argument that its reading of the statute produced an absurd result.
Note that I was wrong the other day when I said that the Supreme Court case on this issue, Pulsifer, would be decided by May or June. More likely it’s set for the next term starting in October, so probably won’t know a result until this time next year. Make the most of Jones in the interim!
Congrats to the Defender office in Western North Carolina on the win!
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