In the first frame of a famous New Yorker cartoon, a man in a sinking boat sends his dog Lassie into the water with the direction to “get help.” In the second frame, Lassie is shown on her psychiatrist’s couch. Linguists recognize that cartoon as an exemplar of the frailty of language. The United State Supreme Court has agreed to address the subject of linguistic imprecision in Pulsifer v. United States (22-340). At issue there is the safety-valve provision of the federal sentencing statute. 18 U.S.C. § 3553(f)(l).

The safety valve provision which focuses on a defendant’s criminal history was enacted as part of the 2018 First Step Act, a sweeping criminal justice reform bill intended to reduce excessive sentences in the federal prison system. Among other things, the act expanded the safety valve that allows low-level, non-violent drug offenders who plead guilty and cooperate with prosecutors to apply to be sentenced without regard to the mandatory minimums that would otherwise apply.

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