It’s no secret that the Federal incarceration rate has seen rapid growth in recent years while state and local incarceration rates have been on a steady decline. Why the strange divergence? It certainly isn’t because people aren’t breaking the law. A bi-partisan group of Senators believe that comprehensive reform of Federal mandatory minimum laws is the answer. In an attempt to curb these mandatory minimums, Senators Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) and Pat Leahy (D-Vermont) have introduced a bill known as the “Justice Safety Valve Act of 2013,” effectively giving judges the option to give more reasonable sentences to federal offenders.

So how does the safety valve work? Julie Stewart, president of Families Against Mandatory Minimums and the chief consult on the Paul-Leahy bill, explains:

Safety valves allow courts — in some circumstances — to sentence a person below the mandatory minimum if that sentence is too lengthy, unjust or unreasonable, or doesn’t fit the offender or the crime. For example, a safety valve allows the court to avoid unreasonable outcomes, such as a first-time drug courier getting the same sentence as a major drug kingpin.

Reporter Mike Riggs gives a great example of how a guy selling marijuana in 2004 was sentenced to 55 years in Federal prison without parole instead of 18 years had the safety-valve been in place.