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HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3341 FILED ON: 1/20/2023
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1420
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_________________
PRESENTED BY:
Tackey Chan
_________________
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 violent crimes.
_______________
PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Tackey Chan2nd Norfolk1/19/2023Timothy CruzMassachusetts District Attorneys
Association, 1 Bulfinch Place, Suite
202, Boston, MA 02114
1/19/2023Timothy ShugrueMassachusetts District Attorneys
Association, 1 Bulfinch Place, Suite
202, Boston, MA 02114
1/19/2023Paul TuckerMassachusetts District Attorneys
Association, 1 Bulfinch Place, Suite
202, Boston, MA 02114
1/19/2023Michael MorrisseyMassachusetts District Attorneys
Association, 1 Bulfinch Place, Suite
202, Boston, MA 02114
1/19/2023David SullivanMassachusetts District Attorneys
Association, 1 Bulfinch Place, Suite
202, Boston, MA 02114
1/19/2023Joseph EarlyMassachusetts District Attorneys
Association, 1 Bulfinch Place, Suite
202, Boston, MA 02114
1/19/2023 2 of 2
David F. DeCoste5th Plymouth1/26/2023 1 of 3
HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3341 FILED ON: 1/20/2023
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1420
By Representative Chan of Quincy, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1420) of Tackey
Chan and others relative to certain violent crimes. The Judiciary.
[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE HOUSE, NO. 1486 OF 2021-2022.]
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_______________
In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)
_______________
An Act relative to violent crimes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 SECTION 1. Section 52 of Chapter 119 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020
2Official Edition, is hereby amended in line 18 by inserting after the word “committed,” the
3following words:- “while under the age of eighteen, murder in violation of section one of chapter
4two hundred sixty-five; or”
5 SECTION 2. Section 54 of Chapter 119, as so appearing, is hereby amended in line 16
6by inserting after the second paragraph the following new paragraph:-
7 “The commonwealth may proceed by complaint in juvenile court or in a juvenile session
8of a district court, as the case may be, or by indictment as provided by chapter two hundred and
9seventy-seven, if a person while under the age of eighteen is alleged to have committed an
10offense in violation of section one of chapter two hundred and sixty-five.” 2 of 3
11 SECTION 3. Section 72B of Chapter 119, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
12inserting at the beginning thereof the following:-
13 “If a person is found guilty or adjudicated delinquent by reason of murder in the first
14degree committed before his fourteenth birthday under the provisions of section one of chapter
15two hundred and sixty-five, the person shall be sentenced to 20 years with possibility of parole
16after 15 years; or if found guilty or adjudicated delinquent by reason of murder in the second
17degree, the person shall be sentenced to 15 years with possibility of parole after 10 years in
18accordance with section fifty-eight of chapter one hundred nineteen.”
19 SECTION 4. Chapter 279 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
20striking out Section 24 and inserting in its place the following:-
21 Section 24. If a convict is sentenced to the state prison, except as a habitual criminal, the
22court shall not fix the term of imprisonment, but shall fix a maximum and a minimum term for
23which he may be imprisoned. The maximum term shall not be longer then the longest term fixed
24by law for the punishment of the crime of which he has been convicted, and the minimum term
25shall be a term set by the court, except that, where an alternative sentence to a house of
26correction is permitted for the offense, a minimum state prison term may not be less than one
27year. In the case of a sentence to life imprisonment, except in the case of a sentence for murder
28in the first degree, and in the case of multiple life sentences arising out of separate and distinct
29incidents that occurred at different times, where the second offense occurred subsequent to the
30first conviction, the court shall fix a minimum term which shall not be less than 15 years nor
31more than 25 years. In the case of a sentence for murder in the first degree imposed upon a
32person who has been designated pursuant to subsection (b) of section two of chapter two hundred 3 of 3
33and sixty-five as eligible for parole, the court shall fix a minimum term which shall not be less
34than 35 years.