Bill

Bill > H434


MA H434

MA H434
Relative to the punishment of habitual offenders


summary

Introduced
In Committee
Crossed Over
Passed
Dead

Introduced Session

187th General Court

Bill Summary

Relative to the punishment of habitual offenders convicted in the courts of the Commonwealth. The Judiciary.

AI Summary

This bill aims to strengthen penalties for habitual offenders by modifying existing laws related to criminal sentencing and probation. Specifically, it amends Section 133A of chapter 127 of the General Laws to exclude prisoners serving life sentences from certain provisions, and it repeals Section 133B of the same chapter. The core changes are found in the revised Section 25 of chapter 279, which redefines an "habitual criminal" as someone convicted twice of crimes punishable by at least three years imprisonment, or once in this state and once elsewhere, who then commits another felony. Such individuals will face the maximum penalty for their current felony conviction and will be ineligible for probation, parole, work release, furlough, or good conduct sentence reductions; the bill also clarifies how prior convictions can be proven in court. Additionally, the bill introduces new provisions across several sections of chapter 279 that mandate the revocation of suspended sentences and commitment to prison if a probationer commits a felony, regardless of whether the new criminal action is still pending, and requires that sentences for new crimes committed while on release during a pending case must run consecutively.

Committee Categories

Justice

Sponsors (60)

Bradford Hill (R)* Paul Adams (R),  Jim Arciero (D),  Bruce Ayers (D),  Jay Barrows (R),  Richard Bastien (R),  Matthew Beaton (R),  Jennifer Benson (D),  Nick Boldyga (R),  Linda Campbell (D),  Christine Canavan (D),  Nick Collins (D),  Edward Coppinger (D),  Geraldine Creedon (D),  Angelo D'Emilia (R),  Viriato deMacedo (R),  Geoffrey Diehl (R),  Stephen DiNatale (D),  James Dwyer (D),  Lori Ehrlich (D),  Christopher Fallon (D),  Ryan Fattman (R),  Kim Ferguson (R),  Paul Frost (R),  Colleen Garry (D),  Susan Gifford (R),  Sheila Harrington (R),  Kate Hogan (D),  Steven Howitt (R),  Donald Humason (R),  Randy Hunt (R),  Brad Jones (R),  John Keenan (D),  John Keenan (D),  Kevin Kuros (R),  Steven Levy (R),  Marc Lombardo (R),  James Lyons (R),  Mike Moore (D),  Shaunna O'Connell (R),  Jim O'Day (D),  George Peterson (R),  Elizabeth Poirier (R),  Angelo Puppolo (D),  Dennis Rosa (D),  George Ross (R),  Richard Ross (R),  Mike Rush (D),  Todd Smola (R),  Theodore Speliotis (D),  Tom Stanley (D),  Bruce Tarr (R),  James Timilty (D),  Walter Timilty (D),  David Torrisi (D),  Cleon Turner (D),  Dave Vieira (R),  Daniel Webster (R),  Daniel Winslow (R),  Donald Wong (R), 

Last Action

Accompanied a study order, see H4364 (on 07/31/2012)

bill text


bill summary

Loading...

bill summary

Loading...
Loading...