The Pre-First Step Act Safety Valve was widely applied to the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act (MDLEA), a statute whose punishment criteria and elements were derived from 21 U.S.C. § 960. The First Circuit, however, joined a circuit split to interpret Safety Valve as not applying to the MDLEA because it did not expressly list the MDLEA even though it did list Section 960.

Terry v. United States, 141 S. Ct. 1858 (2021) reiterated that offenses are defined by provisions supplying their elements. Thus, under Terry, does pre-First Step Act Safety Valve cover MDLEA offenses since those offenses' punishment elements are defined by Section 960?

Whether pre-First Step Act Safety Valve covers Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act offenses since those offenses' punishment elements are defined by 21 U.S.C. § 960