2023 Senate Bill 324

AI Analysis – Experimental

Senate Bills 321-325 establish comprehensive sentencing guidelines for individuals convicted of a subsequent felony after three or more prior felony or attempted felony convictions. The bill aims to ensure sentencing consistency across jurisdictions, with guidelines varying based on the nature of the subsequent felony, including serious crimes, felonies punishable by five years or more, felonies punishable by less than five years, and major controlled substance offenses. It addresses parole eligibility, life imprisonment without parole for offenders under 18 incorporating factors from Miller v Alabama, and the rights of victims to make an oral impact statement.

The bill outlines a process for incarcerated individuals to petition for sentence reduction after serving at least 10 years, detailing conditions for denial and successive petitions, and excludes those convicted of mass shooting offenses from relief. It specifies eligibility criteria for sentence reduction, including medical conditions, age, or duration of sentence served, and grants courts discretion to determine the relevance of proposed evidence at hearings, which must include the incarcerated individual's presence, possibly via video teleconference.

Furthermore, the bill mandates consideration of all relevant evidence during a hearing, including the incarcerated individual's age at the time of the offense and petition, brain development research, nature of the offense, rehabilitation efforts, victim's statements, circumstances of the offense and incarceration, health, plea offers, effectiveness of counsel, wrongful conviction claims, evidence of human trafficking or abuse, parole guidelines score, and family and home environment. It also considers evidence of childhood abuse or neglect, exposure to violence, psychological damage, emotional disturbance, and the potential for lesser charges due to incompetency associated with youth, intellectual disability, or mental illness.