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January 28, 2009
MA: FAMM instroduces reform bills on mandatory minimum sentencing and school zones
Families Against Mandatory Minimums has just introduced two sentencing reform bills. They are comprehensive sentencing reform bills that go beyond similar bills that were filed in previous sessions. One would repeal mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses while the other would reform the school zone drug sentencing law. As of this moment they do not have Bill numbers. FAMM is seeking sponsors of these Bills from our legislators in the Senate and the House.
Please call or please email your Senator and Rep. If you do not have their email address or phone # you can go to this site.....
http://www.mass.gov/legis/memmenu.htm
Please remember to ask them to get back to you on their actions. All of this will take not more than 5 minutes.
Thank you!
Lois
After you have contacted your senator and rep....please forward to others!!
This message is from FAMM...
Please ask your legislators to sign on as co-sponsors! The deadline is February 4. Use FAMM's action center to help you make your calls to your representative and senator (you'll make two calls total). After each call, be sure to give us feedback on the response and click the "submit" button at the end of both calls. Call by going to this URL: http://capwiz.com/famm/callalert/index.tt?alertid=12519506
Mandatory minimum repeal bill. The repeal bill is called, "An Act to Repeal Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Laws for Drug Offenses." It would do away with one-size-fits-all sentencing for drug offenses. Instead, courts would be allowed to once again base sentences on the facts of the case and the offender's circumstances. It would also allow drug offenders to apply for parole, work release and earned "good conduct" credits. Identical versions of the bill were filed in the House of Representatives by Rep. Benjamin Swan and in the Senate by Sen. Thomas McGee. For more information, see our summary of the bill (
http://www.famm.org/Repository/Files/Mass_repeal_summary_for_members___1-23-09_%5B1%5D.pdf )
and fact sheet. (http://www.famm.org/Repository/Files/Mass_general_repeal_fact_sheet__1-21-09_%5B1%5D.pdf)
School zone drug sentencing bill. The school zone bill is called, "An Act to Reform the School Zone Law for Drug Offenses." It was filed in the House by Rep. Benjamin Swan (there is no Senate sponsor). This bill would reduce the size of drug-free school zones to 100 feet and get rid of the mandatory prison sentence for school zone violations. In addition, school zone penalties would no longer apply to drug sales that take place in private residences. (The drug offense would still be illegal, but there would no longer be an additional penalty due to the location of the home.) Finally, school zone sentences could be served at the same time as the sentence for the drug offense itself. For more information, see our summary of the bill (http://www.famm.org/Repository/Files/Mass_repeal_summary_for_members___1-23-09_%5B1%5D.pdf)
and fact sheet. (http://www.famm.org/Repository/Files/Mass_school_zone_fact_sheet__1-21-09_%5B1%5D.pdf)
Posted by lois at January 28, 2009 01:59 PM