Bill H.2197

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2214 FILED ON: 1/20/2011

HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2197

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Bradley H. Jones, Jr.

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act relative to parole eligibility.

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PETITION OF:

Name:	District/Address:	Date Added:
Bradley H. Jones, Jr.	20th Middlesex	1/20/2011
Marc T. Lombardo	22nd Middlesex	1/27/2011
Donald F. Humason, Jr.	4th Hampden	1/27/2011
Geoff Diehl	7th Plymouth	2/2/2011
Randy Hunt	5th Barnstable	2/2/2011
F. Jay Barrows	1st Bristol	2/2/2011
Shaunna O'Connell	3rd Bristol	2/2/2011
Susan Williams Gifford	2nd Plymouth	2/2/2011
Richard Bastien	2nd Worcester	2/3/2011
Todd M. Smola	1st Hampden	2/3/2011
Kevin J. Kuros	8th Worcester	2/3/2011
Ryan C. Fattman	18th Worcester	2/3/2011
Sheila C. Harrington	1st Middlesex	2/4/2011
Nicholas A. Boldyga	3rd Hampden	2/4/2011
Matthew A. Beaton	11th Worcester	2/4/2011
Kimberly N. Ferguson	1st Worcester	2/4/2011
Steven L. Levy	4th Middlesex	2/4/2011
David T. Vieira	3rd Barnstable	2/4/2011
George T. Ross	2nd Bristol	2/4/2011
Paul Adams	17th Essex	2/4/2011
George N. Peterson, Jr.	9th Worcester	2/4/2011
Bradford Hill	4th Essex	2/4/2011
Elizabeth A. Poirier	14th Bristol	1/21/2011
Viriato Manuel deMacedo	1st Plymouth	2/3/2011

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2214 FILED ON: 1/20/2011

HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2197

By Mr. Jones of North Reading, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2197) of Bradley H. Jones, Jr., and others relative to parole eligibility. The Judiciary.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand Eleven

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An Act relative to parole eligibility.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Section 133A of chapter 127 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2008 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking in lines 1 through 8, inclusive, the first sentence and inserting in place thereof, the following:

Every prisoner who is serving a life sentence in a correctional institution of the commonwealth, except (1) prisoners confined to the hospital at the Massachusetts Correctional Institution, Bridgewater, (2) prisoners serving a life sentence for murder in the first degree, (3) prisoners serving more than one life sentence, either to be served consecutively or concurrently, and (4) prisoners sentenced to a second or subsequent life sentence; shall be eligible for parole, and the parole board shall, within 60 days before the expiration of 25 years of such sentence, conduct a public hearing before the full membership unless a member of the board is determined to be unavailable as provided in this section.

SECTION 2. Chapter 279 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2008 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking section 24 in its entirety and inserting in place thereof the following section:

Section 24. If a convict is sentenced to the state prison, as an habitual criminal, the court shall not fix the term of imprisonment, but shall fix a maximum and a minimum term for which he may be imprisoned. The maximum term shall not be longer than the longest term fixed by law for the punishment of the crime of which he has be convicted, and the minimum term shall be a term set by the court, except that, where an alternative sentence to a house of correction is permitted for the offense, a minimum state prison term may not be less than one year. In the case of a life sentence, the minimum term set by the court shall not be less than 25 years.