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HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3018 FILED ON: 1/19/2023
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2397
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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PRESENTED BY:
Lindsay N. Sabadosa and 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:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Lindsay N. Sabadosa1st Hampshire1/19/2023Liz MirandaSecond Suffolk1/19/2023Jack Patrick Lewis7th Middlesex2/1/2023Samantha Montaño15th Suffolk2/3/2023Steven Owens29th Middlesex2/6/2023Patrick Joseph Kearney4th Plymouth2/9/2023Jason M. LewisFifth Middlesex2/15/2023Carmine Lawrence Gentile13th Middlesex3/3/2023Mike Connolly26th Middlesex3/10/2023 1 of 3
HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3018 FILED ON: 1/19/2023
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2397
By Representative Sabadosa of Northampton and Senator Miranda, a joint petition (accompanied
by bill, House, No. 2397) of Lindsay N. Sabadosa, Liz Miranda and others relative to parole
review for aging incarcerated persons. Public Safety and Homeland Security.
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:
1 Chapter 127 of the MGL is amended by inserting Section 133F: Parole eligibility for
2people aged 55 and older who have served at least half or 15 years of their sentence.
3 a) Notwithstanding any other section of law, when a person serving a sentence of
4incarceration has served at least (i) one half of their minimum term of sentence, or (ii) one half of
5their total aggregate sentence if serving multiple consecutive sentences, or (iii) one half of the
6component sentence that carries the latest date if serving multiple concurrent sentences, or (iv)
7fifteen years, whichever is less, and has reached the age of fifty-five, the parole board shall
8schedule a hearing within sixty days of eligibility, i.e. the date of the person's fifty-fifth birthday
9or the day that they meet the time served requirement of this subsection, whichever is later, to
10determine whether such person should be granted a parole permit under section Chapter 127
11Section 133A. The board must also give special consideration to the incarcerated person’s 2 of 3
12advanced age; long-term confinement; diminished physical or mental condition if any, and
13reasonable accommodations for such conditions.
14 b) After such hearing the parole board may, by a vote of two-thirds of its members, grant
15to such an incarcerated person a permit to be at liberty upon such terms and conditions as it may
16prescribe for the unexpired term of his sentence. The parole board shall issue its decision within
17two months of the hearing. If such permit is not granted, the parole board shall, at least once in
18each ensuing two year period, consider carefully and thoroughly the merits of each such case on
19the question of releasing such prisoner on parole and may, by a vote of two-thirds of its
20members, grant such parole permit.
21 c) All decisions to grant or deny parole shall be made without bias pertaining to a
22person’s race, ethnicity, disability, religion, sexual orientation, or gender identity
23 d) The hearings required by this subsection shall be in addition to and not replace other
24parole or medical parole eligibility.
25 e) If an incarcerated person is indigent, the incarcerated person shall have the right to
26have appointed counsel at the parole hearing and shall have the right to funds for experts
27pursuant to chapter 261.
28 f) The Parole Board shall file an annual report not later than March 1 for the prior fiscal
29year with the clerks of the senate and the house of representatives, the senate and house
30committees on ways and means, and the joint committee on the judiciary detailing: (i) the
31number of incarcerated people in the custody of the department of correction or the sheriffs who
32were eligible for parole under this section and the age, gender, race, ethnicity, and governing
33offense of each person; (ii) the number of incarcerated people who have been granted parole 3 of 3
34under this section and the age at the time of the hearing, gender, race and ethnicity, and
35governing offense of each person; (iii) the number of incarcerated people who have been denied
36parole under this section, the reason for the denial, and the age, gender, race and ethnicity, and
37governing offense of each person; (iv) the number of incarcerated people eligible for parole
38under this section who have had previous elder parole hearings; (vii) the number of incarcerated
39people released under this section who have been returned to the custody of the department or
40the sheriff and the reason for each prisoner's return. Nothing in this report shall include
41personally identifiable information of incarcerated people.