×
You've used up your 3 free articles for this month. Subscribe today.
Fourth Circuit Holds Ineligibility for First Step Act Safety Valve Relief Requires Proof of All Three Listed Criminal History Characteristics Satisfied, Widening Circuit Split
Loaded on June 15, 2023
by David Reutter
published in Criminal Legal News
July, 2023, page 34
Filed under:
First Step Act,
Guideline Amendment/Variances and Retroactivity.
Location:
North Carolina.
by David M. Reutter
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held that the plain text of 18 U.S.C. § 3553(f)(1) “requires a sentencing court to find that a defendant has all three of the listed criminal history characteristics before excluding a defendant from a safety …
Full article and associated cases available to subscribers.
As a digital subscriber to Criminal Legal News, you can access full text and downloads for this and other premium content.
Already a subscriber? Login
More from this issue:
- The Inevitability of Central Bank Digital Currencies and Their Threat to Human Rights, by Anthony Accurso
- SCOTUS Announces ‘Right-to-Control’ Theory Not Valid Basis for Liability Under Federal Wire Fraud Statutes, by Richard Resch
- Texas Court of Criminal Appeals: Trial Court Deprived Defendant of Opportunity to Present Complete Defense, by Douglas Ankney
- SCOTUS: Honest-Services Fraud Jury Instructions Regarding Private Citizen Too Vague, by Richard Resch
- New Commission in Georgia Will Discipline and Remove Prosecutors Who Are Seen as Not Tough Enough on Crime, by Jo Ellen Nott
- Fifth Circuit: Placing Jacket Within Fenced-In Area of Home in Presence of Police Evidences Clear Intent Not to Abandon It, Warrantless Search Violates Fourth Amendment Rights, by Richard Resch
- California Court of Appeal Reiterates ‘Three Strikes’ Law Does Not Limit ‘Presentence’ Custody Credits, Defendant Entitled to Credits Calculated Under Penal Code § 4019, by Douglas Ankney
- Ninth Circuit: Government’s Inflammatory Arguments in Sentencing Memorandum and at Sentencing Hearing Implicitly Breached Plea Agreement Promise Not to Recommend Sentence in Excess of Low-End Guidelines Range, by Douglas Ankney
- Georgia Supreme Court Announces Overruling Longstanding Rule That Anything Filed by Defendant While Represented by Counsel Is Always a ‘Legal Nullity’, by Douglas Ankney
- Fourth Circuit: Denial of Motion for Compassionate Release Abuse of Discretion Where District Court Failed to Properly Address Numerous Health Issues, Advanced Age, and Relevant § 3553(a) Factors, by Douglas Ankney
- Fourth Circuit Declines to Enforce Appeal Waiver and Procedural Default Excused by ‘Cause and Actual Prejudice,’ Reverses Denial of § 2255 Motion to Vacate § 924(c) Conviction Based on Hobbs Act Conspiracy, by Douglas Ankney
- Saul Kassin Probes Dangerous Practices in ‘Duped: Why Innocent People Confess-and Why We Believe Their Confessions’, by James Doyle
- Fourth Circuit: Counsel Ineffective for Failing to Raise Change in Sentencing Precedent Following Remand, by David Reutter
- Fourth Circuit Holds Ineligibility for First Step Act Safety Valve Relief Requires Proof of All Three Listed Criminal History Characteristics Satisfied, Widening Circuit Split, by David Reutter
- First Circuit: Plain Error Where District Court Based Upward Variant From Sentencing Guidelines Range on New Information Not Already in the Record at the Time of Sentencing, by Douglas Ankney
- Indiana Supreme Court: Petitioner Entitled to File Belated Appeal More Than 21 Years After Conviction, Holding He Acted ‘Promptly’, by Douglas Ankney
- Fourth Circuit Announces Rehaif Applies to All § 922(g) Firearms-Possession Offenses and Applies Retroactively to Initial § 2255 Motions, by Douglas Ankney
- Arkansas Supreme Court Reverses 11 Counts of Possession of Child Pornography Because CGI Images Do Not Depict Image of a Child, by Douglas Ankney
- Specialized Police Units Hunt People for ICE, by Keith Sanders
- Banishment: Using an Ancient Solution to Address a Modern Problem, by Benjamin Tschirhart
- Police Can Get More From Your Phone Than You May Believe, by Michael Thompson
- Cops Aren’t Just Murdering People With Impunity – They Also Conduct Bogus Traffic Stops, by Anthony Accurso
- Civilian Police With Military Equipment, by Edward Lyon
- Inspector General Report: FBI Routinely Abused Access to Private Communications, by Eike Blohm, MD
- New Orleans Authorizes Facial Recognition to Identity Suspects, by Michael Thompson
- Financial Pressure Finally Brings Police Reform, by Jayson Hawkins
- The ACLU Calls for a Moratorium on Blanket Recording of ALPR Footage, by Kevin Bliss
- Police Sketch Bot Arrives, by Carlo Difundo
- Police Study Shows That Reform and Effectiveness Are Not Mutually Exclusive, by Benjamin Tschirhart
- ‘Contagion Effect’ Spreads Brutality Among Police Officers, by Eike Blohm, MD
- America’s Latest “War on” … Protestors, by Casey Bastian
- Memphis Police Beat Man to Death, by Kevin Bliss
- Minnesota Abolishes Life Without Parole for Juveniles, by Jordan Arizmendi
- Louisiana Jury Selection Illegal According to Recently Passed Bill, by Kevin Bliss
- News in Brief
More from David Reutter:
- Eight Circuit Reverses Denial of Partial Qualified Immunity in Detainee’s Pepper Ball Claim, Remands Excessive Force Claims, Sept. 1, 2026
- Nevada Prisoners, Families Call Out Predatory Tablet Program, Sept. 1, 2026
- Fourth Circuit: Error in Granting Judgment Prior to Adjudging Spoliation Motion, Sept. 1, 2026
- Fourth Circuit Affirms Qualified Immunity in Strip Searches Resulting from Anonymous Tips, Sept. 1, 2026
- Tenth Circuit: Colorado Governor Unentitled to Eleventh Amendment Immunity on Claim Related to DOC Religious Policies, Aug. 1, 2026
- Michigan Appeals Court: Witnesses Cannot be Forced to Wear Jail Clothes at Trial, Aug. 1, 2026
- Sixth Circuit Affirms Denial of State-Law Qualified Immunity in Scabies Case, Aug. 1, 2026
- Fourth Circuit Revives Disabled Prisoner’s Claim for Denial of Out-of-Cell Exercise Time, Aug. 1, 2026
- Sixth Circuit Announces State-Law Exceptions to Appeal Deadlines Preserve “Pending” Status Under AEDPA, Holding Belated-Appeal Procedures Toll Federal Habeas Limitations Period, April 1, 2026
- Florida Supreme Court Announces Rule 3.170(f)’s Good-Cause Plea-Withdrawal Standard Does Not Apply at Post-Appeal Resentencing, April 1, 2026
More from these topics:
- Retroactive Guideline Amendments: The Narrow Path to a Federal Sentence Reduction, July 1, 2026. Appointment of Counsel, Career Offenders, Mandatory Minimum Sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2), Guideline Amendment/Variances and Retroactivity.
- SCOTUS Announces Sentencing Disparities Created by Nonretroactive Statutory Amendments Cannot Constitute Extraordinary and Compelling Reasons for Compassionate Release, June 1, 2026. First Step Act, Mandatory Minimum Sentence, Statutory Construction/Interpretation, Sentencing Disparity, Compassionate Release.
- Eighth Circuit Dismisses Federal Prisoner’s Challenge to BOP Denying His Request for Expedited Transfer to Prerelease Custody, June 1, 2026. Release and Reentry, Habeas Corpus, First Step Act, Community Confinement/Home Detention, Credits.
- Fourth Circuit to BOP Prisoner: Any “Disqualifying Offense” Means Zero FSA Credits, April 1, 2026. First Step Act, Bureau of Prisons (BOP), Statutory Construction/Interpretation, Credits, Concurrent and Consecutive Sentences.
- Six Years of the First Step Act: Federal Prison Data Reveal Treatment Gains, Persistent Disparities, and Unanswered Questions, April 1, 2026. Racial Discrimination, Systemic Medical Neglect, First Step Act, Drug Treatment/Rehab, Confinement in Segregated Housing.
- Fourth Circuit Holds Federal Prisoner Does Not Earn First Step Act Time Credits While in Transit Between Prisons, March 1, 2026. Rehabilitation/Recidivism, First Step Act, Bureau of Prisons (BOP), Credits.
- Eighth Circuit Announces Presidential Commutation Does Not Moot Challenge to Underlying Sentence, Jan. 1, 2026. Pardons/Clemency, First Step Act, Qualifying Offenses, Sentence Enhancements/Departures, Authority and Jurisdiction.
- BOP Announces New Conditional Placement Date Calculation, Jan. 1, 2026. First Step Act, halfway houses, Community Confinement/Home Detention, Credits, Prison Classification.
- Third Circuit Rules Awarding BOP Prisoners 54 Days of Good Time Per Year Is Pro-Rated, Jan. 1, 2026. Good Time, First Step Act, Bureau of Prisons (BOP), Statutory Construction/Interpretation, Credits.
- SCOTUS Overturns Oklahoma Prisoner’s Death Sentence After More than 25 Years on Death Row, Nov. 1, 2025. Ex Post Facto, Good Time, Wrongful Conviction, Habeas Corpus, Wrongful Imprisonment, Pardons/Clemency, First Step Act, Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act (CAFRA), Specific Offenses, Controlled Substances, Weapons, Accuracy of Information, Depraved Indifference Murder, Evidence - Circumstantial, Theft, Failure to Disclose, Perjury/Perjured Testimony, Evidence - Failure to Disclose, New Trial - Motions for, Pleas Linked to Cooperation, Evidence - Destruction/Fabrication/Manipulation of, Selective Prosecution/Enforcement, Improper Comments, Official Report, Withholding of Exculpatory Evidence, Exculpatory Evidence - Disclosure Obligations.




