In U.S. v. Jackson, No. 08-13645 (Aug. 9, 2010), the Court held that a defendant cannot obtain a safety-valve sentence reduction at a resentencing under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2).
The Court noted that the safety-valve statute references findings “at sentencing.” A § 3582(c)(2) proceeding is not a “sentencing,” but a limited resentencing. The Court noted the policy statements of the Sentencing Guidelines which provided that § 3582(c)(2) resentencings leave other guideline application decisions “unaffected.”
The Court recognized that its holding created a conflict with the contrary decisions of the Eighth and Sixth Circuits, which have held that the safety-valve does apply in § 3582(c)(2) proceedings.
