Federal crimes are usually punishable by a statutory maximum term of imprisonment—for example, "imprisoned for not more than 5 years." A surprising number also have statutory minimum terms of imprisonment—for example, "imprisonment which may not be less than 10 years or for life." Under some circumstances, mandatory minimums have proven controversial. Opponents contend that in some instances they can be arbitrary and unduly severe. Proponents contend that they ensure the offenders of the most serious offenses will receive at least some minimum punishment. Legislative proposals in the 114 th Congress reflect both perspectives. Federal courts are required to weigh the standards listed in 18 U.S.C. 3553(a) before sentencing a defendant. The standards include things like "the need for the sentence imposed ... to provide just punishment for the offense" and "the need to avoid unwarranted sentence disparities ..." In doing so, however, the courts may not disregard any applicable statutory mandatory minimums. S. 353 (Senator Paul) and H.R. 706 (Representative Scott (VA)) would permit federal courts to impose a sentence below an otherwise applicable mandatory minimum when necessary to avoid violating the sentencing standards found in Section 3553(a). When exercising the authority, the court would have to provide the government and the defendant a chance to be heard, and to provide a written statement of the Section 3553(a) factors that justify the decision to sentence below the mandatory minimum. The Controlled Substances Act and the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act establish a series of mandatory minimum sentences for violation of their prohibitions. Trafficking—that is, importing, exporting, manufacturing, growing, or possessing with the intent to distribute—a very substantial amount of various highly addictive substances such as more than a kilogram of heroin is punishable by imprisonment for not less than 10 years or more than life. A subsequent conviction carries a sentence of imprisonment for not less than 20 years or more than life. When substantial but lesser amounts are involved, such as100 grams of heroin, sentences of imprisonment for not less than five years or more than life are called for, and imprisonment for not less than 10 years or more than life in the case of a subsequent conviction. As noted in Table 1 below, S. 502 (Senator Lee) and H.R. 920 (Representative Labrador) would reduce the mandatory minimum sentences for drug traffickers engaged in manufacture, cultivation, or distribution. They would not reduce the mandatory minimum sentences for traffickers engaged in importing or exporting, other than those who were simply acting as couriers (mules). This is a departure from the proposals in the 113 th Congress, which would have reduced the mandatory minimum sentences for traffickers generally, without regard to whether they manufacture or import/export. The so-called safety valve provision of 18 U.S.C. 3553(f) allows a court to sentence qualified defendants below the statutory mandatory minimum in controlled substance trafficking and possession cases. To qualify, a defendant may not have used violence in the course of the offense. He must not have played a managerial role in the offense if it involved group participation. The offense must not have resulted in a death or serious bodily injury. The defendant must make full disclosure of his involvement in the offense, providing the government with all the information and evidence at his disposal. Finally, the defendant must have a virtually spotless criminal record, that is, not more than 1 criminal history point. Criminal history points and categories are a feature of the U.S. Sentencing Commission's Sentencing Guidelines. The Guidelines assign points based on the sentences imposed for prior state and federal convictions. For example, the Guidelines assign 1 point for any past conviction that resulted in a sentence of less than incarceration for 60 days; 2 points for any conviction resulting in a sentence of incarceration for at least 60 days; and 3 points for any conviction resulting in a sentence of incarceration of more than a year and a month. Criminal History Category I consists of zero or 1 point, Criminal History Category II of 2 or 3 points. The Sentencing Commission's report on mandatory minimum sentences suggested that Congress consider expanding safety valve eligibility to defendants with 2 or possibly 3 criminal history points. The report indicated that under the Guidelines a defendant's criminal record "can have a disproportionate and excessively severe cumulative sentencing impact on certain drug offenders." It explained that the Guidelines are construed to ensure that the sentence they recommend in a given case calls for a term of imprisonment that is not less than an applicable mandatory minimum. In addition, the drug offenses have escalated mandatory minimums for repeat offenders. Moreover, similarly situated drug offenders may be treated differently, because states punish simple drug possession differently and prosecutors decide when to press recidivism qualifications differently. The Lee and Labrador bills ( S. 502 / H.R. 920 ) would expand safety valve eligibility from defendants with no more than 1 criminal history point to those with no more than 3 points. S. 1410 , as voted out of the Senate Judiciary Committee during the last Congress, would have expanded safety valve eligibility from defendants with no more than 1 criminal history point to those with no more than 2 points, if they avoided certain disqualifications. A defendant would have been ineligible for the expanded 2-point criminal history safety valve threshold if he had a prior conviction for a federal firearms offense, sex offense, crime of terrorism, RICO predicate offense, or conspiracy to use or invest drug profits. The current proposals have no such limitation. Originally, the Controlled Substances Act made no distinction between powder cocaine and crack cocaine (cocaine base). The 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act introduced a 100-1 sentencing ratio between the two, so that trafficking in 50 grams of crack cocaine carried the same penalties as trafficking in 5,000 grams of powder cocaine. The 2010 Fair Sentencing Act replaced it with the present 500-28 ratio, so that trafficking in 280 grams of crack cocaine carries the same penalties as 5,000 grams of powder cocaine. It also abolished the mandatory minimum for simple crack cocaine possession that the 1988 Anti-Drug Abuse Act had established. The Sentencing Commission subsequently revised the Sentencing Guidelines to reflect the change, and made the modification retroactively applicable at the discretion of the sentencing court. H.R. 1255 (Representative Scott (VA)) would eliminate the sentencing distinction between powder and crack cocaine by eliminating the cocaine base specific references. Trafficking in cocaine would carry the same penalties regardless of whether the substance was powder or crack cocaine. The Fair Sentencing Act reductions apply to cocaine offenses committed thereafter. They also apply to offenses committed beforehand when sentencing occurs after the time of enactment. Federal courts have discretion to reduce a sentence imposed under a Sentencing Guideline that was subsequently substantially reduced. The Fair Sentencing Act (FSA), however, does not apply to sentences imposed prior to its enactment, and it does not apply in sentence reduction hearings triggered by new Sentencing Guidelines. In such proceedings, the courts remain bound by the mandatory minimums in effect prior to enactment of the FSA. S. 502 (Senator Lee) and H.R. 920 (Representative Labrador) would allow a court to reduce a previously imposed sentence for crack cocaine possession or trafficking, consistent with the FSA, on its own or at the behest of the defendant, prosecutor, or Bureau of Prisons. They would also permit a court to reduce such sentences, but would have limited the authority to instances in which the defendant had not been previously granted or denied a similar reduction. The Judiciary Committee's version of S. 1410 (113 th Cong.) contained identical provisions. S. 502 and H.R. 920 would direct the U.S. Sentencing Commission to review and propose amendments to the federal Sentencing Guidelines in order to reflect the changes the bills call for and the changes the FSA introduced. The Sentencing Reform Act created the Sentencing Commission and authorizes it to propose Sentencing Guidelines. It also authorizes the commission to periodically review and propose amendments to the Guidelines. Once considered binding, the Guidelines still substantially limit the sentences a federal court may impose. A court must correctly calculate the Guidelines' recommended sentencing range, and it must justify any deviation. The bills would instruct the commission to conduct this reexamination with six factors in mind: the need to minimize the risk that the federal prison population would exceed the system's capacity; the findings and recommendations of the Commission's report on mandatory minimum sentences; the fiscal implications of any changes to the Guidelines; relevant public safety concerns; congressional intent to maintain appropriately severe penalties for violent, repeat, and serious drug traffickers; and the need to reduce and prevent racial sentencing disparities. The Controlled Substances Act prohibits cultivation, distribution, possession with intent to distribute, and simple possession of marijuana. Those prohibitions carry with them mandatory minimum sentences when substantial amounts of marijuana are involved. Thus, cultivation, distribution, or possession with intent to distribute " 1,000 kilograms [2,204.6 lbs.] or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of marihuana, or 1,000 or more marihuana plants regardless of weight" is punishable by [A] term of imprisonment which may not be less than 10 years or more than life and if death or serious bodily injury results from the use of such substance shall be not less than 20 years or more than life ... If any person commits such a violation after a prior conviction for a felony drug offense has become final, such person shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment which may not be less than 20 years and not more than life imprisonment and if death or serious bodily injury results from the use of such substance shall be sentenced to life imprisonment ... If any person commits a violation of this subparagraph ... after two or more prior convictions for a felony drug offense have become final, such person shall be sentenced to a mandatory term of life imprisonment without release and fined in accordance with the preceding sentence.