SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1739        FILED ON: 1/19/2023

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1547

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Liz Miranda

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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 review for aging incarcerated people.

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PETITION OF:

SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1739        FILED ON: 1/19/2023

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1547

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)

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An Act relative to parole review for aging incarcerated people.

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

Chapter 127 Section 133F: Parole eligibility for people aged 55 and older who have served at least half or 15 years of their sentence

Notwithstanding any other section of law, when a person serving a sentence of incarceration has served at least (i) one half of their minimum term of sentence, or (ii) one half of their total aggregate sentence if serving multiple consecutive sentences, or (iii) one half of the component sentence that carries the latest date if serving multiple concurrent sentences, or (iv) fifteen years, whichever is less, and has reached the age of fifty-five, the parole board shall schedule a hearing within sixty days of eligibility, i.e. the date of the person's fifty-fifth birthday or the day that they meet the time served requirement of this subsection, whichever is later, to determine whether such person should be granted a parole permit under section Chapter 127 Section 133A. The board must also give special consideration to the incarcerated person’s advanced age; long-term confinement; diminished physical or mental condition if any, and reasonable accommodations for such conditions.

After such hearing the parole board may, by a vote of two-thirds of its members, grant to such an incarcerated person a permit to be at liberty upon such terms and conditions as it may prescribe for the unexpired term of his sentence. The parole board shall issue its decision within two months of the hearing. If such permit is not granted, the parole board shall, at least once in each ensuing two year period, consider carefully and thoroughly the merits of each such case on the question of releasing such prisoner on parole and may, by a vote of two-thirds of its members, grant such parole permit.

All decisions to grant or deny parole shall be made without bias pertaining to a person’s race, ethnicity, disability, religion, sexual orientation, or gender identity

The hearings required by this subsection shall be in addition to and not replace other parole or medical parole eligibility.

If an incarcerated person is indigent, the incarcerated person shall have the right to have appointed counsel at the parole hearing and shall have the right to funds for experts pursuant to chapter 261.

The Parole Board shall file an annual report not later than March 1 for the prior fiscal year with the clerks of the senate and the house of representatives, the senate and house committees on ways and means, and the joint committee on the judiciary detailing: (i) the number of incarcerated people in the custody of the department of correction or the sheriffs who were eligible for parole under this section and the age, gender, race, ethnicity, and governing offense of each person; (ii) the number of incarcerated people who have been granted parole under this section and the age at the time of the hearing, gender, race and ethnicity, and governing offense of each person; (iii) the number of incarcerated people who have been denied parole under this section, the reason for the denial, and the age, gender, race and ethnicity, and governing offense of each person; (iv) the number of incarcerated people eligible for parole under this section who have had previous elder parole hearings; (vii) the number of incarcerated people released under this section who have been returned to the custody of the department or the sheriff and the reason for each prisoner's return. Nothing in this report shall include personally identifiable information of incarcerated people.