Addressing the Issue of Race and Drug Offenses: An Analysis of the Safety Valve Provision in Federal Sentencing

ABSTRACT In efforts to understand the Sentencing Reform Act’s effectiveness on federal drug offenses, the current study seeks to determine the application of the safety valve provision in the 2013 federal sentencing data from the U.S. Sentencing Commission. To better analyze the impact of the race, ethnicity, or gender of the defendant, the current study analyzes cases where the safety valve could have been applied in three different models being race/ethnicity of the defendant, legal factors, and then extra-legal factors to understand the judge’s decision-making on applying the safety valve provision under 18 U.S.C. §3553(f). The findings show evidence of racial and gender disparity. Both Black defendants and Black male defendants are less likely to have the safety valve applied in their cases than White defendants and White male defendants. While cases involving a Hispanic defendant and a Hispanic male defendant are more likely to have the safety valve applied.