Bill > H1821

This bill aims to reduce mass incarceration in Massachusetts. It proposes several key changes: 1. Expanding parole eligibility for prisoners serving multiple life sentences by allowing them to be eligible for parole after 25 years of their second or most recent sentence. 2. Removing certain exceptions that previously excluded some prisoners from parole eligibility, such as those serving life sentences for first-degree murder and those confined to the hospital at the Massachusetts Correctional Institution in Bridgewater. 3. Allowing prisoners convicted of first-degree murder to be eligible for parole after a term of years fixed by the court, rather than being ineligible for parole. 4. Establishing a Restorative Justice program within prisons to facilitate interaction between prisoners, victims, and community members with the goal of understanding and addressing the impact of the offense. The bill also sets a general limit of 25 years of imprisonment without a parole hearing, with some exceptions, and applies the changes retroactively to those previously convicted.

Justice

https://malegislature.gov/Bills/193/H1821